In The News
New propylene and butadiene process could be utilized next year
By the end of this year, Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. (Tokyo; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) plans to complete development on two processes that utilize excess C2 and C4 fractions for producing propylene and butadiene, and if all goes smoothly, implement them by March…
April Chementator briefs
Recycling copper Steinert Elektromagnetbau GmbH (Cologne, Germany; www.steinert.de) has recently installed its first XSS-F unit — said to be the worlds first inline system designed to extract copper from shredded ferrous scrap. Installed at a German recycling yard, the…
Evonik starts up new isobutene plant in Antwerp
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has started up a new facility to produce high-purity isobutene at its site in Antwerp (Belgium). The new plant, which involved investment of tens of millions euros, can produce up to 110,000 metric tons…
BASF to explore new production investment in Brazil and other business news
BASF to explore new production investment in Brazil March 10, 2011 — BASF is exploring opportunities for a new investment in Brazil for the production of acrylic acid, butyl acrylate and superabsorbent polymers (SAP). The feasibility study will be completed…
A low-energy, belt-based solid- liquid separation technology
Engineers at Algaeventure Systems (Marysville, Ohio; www.algaevs.com) have developed a system for separating liquids from solids and semisolids at very low energies. Originally targeted at harvesting and dewatering microalgae where the technology could remove a major cost barrier, the separation…
Supercritical CO2 Brayton-cycle system packs efficiency into small footprint
Electricity generation of 240 kW has been demonstrated in a Brayton-cycle system that uses supercritical carbon dioxide as the working fluid. Developed by researchers at Sandia National Laboratory (Albuquerque, N.M.; www.sandia.gov) and built by Barber Nichols Inc. (Arvada, Colo.; www.barber-nichols.com),…
Shedding Light on Microreactors
Traditionally, most students have learned about chemical reactions in laboratories using test tubes, beakers and flasks. Those who have gone on to discover and develop new products have typically done so using these batchwise techniques. This mind-set has continued through…
New condenser design for Claus tail gas slashes refrigeration duty
Last month, at the AIChE Spring Meeting in Chicago, Henry Kister, director of Fractionation Technology at Fluor Corp. (Aliso Viejo, Calif.; www.fluor.com) presented a patent pending process (U.S. Patent Application WO/2011/016797) that promises to cut energy demand and capital costs…
Commercial testing set for ‘smooth’ emulsification technology
A new emulsification process, known as Smooth, has been developed by Velocys, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio; www.velocys.com) — a member of the Oxford Catalyst Group Plc. (Abingdon, U.K.) — and is now ready for testing at the commercial scale. Smooth technology…
A step toward industrial production of perillic acid
Last month, Brain AG (Zwingenberg; www.brain-biotech.de) and Dechema e.V. (Frankfurt am Main, both Germany; www.dechema.de) began a collaboration in the biotechnological production of perillic acid — a patented natural monoterpene owned by Brain, with promising applications as a bioactive compound…