A demonstration plant for a biological process that produces ethanol and 2,3 butanediol (2,3-BD) from the offgases of industrial plants will be started up in the third quarter of 2011 at a steel mill operated by Bao Steel (Shanghai). Developed…
A nanotechnology-based, bottom-up approach to synthesizing catalysts for converting natural gas to ethylene could enable an alternative to the steam-cracking of crude oil, an energy-intensive process conventionally used to produce ethylene, the world’s most valuable commodity chemical. Scientists at the…
A green hydrometallurgical process for recovering gold from ore, developed by Haber, Inc. (Arlington, Mass.; www.habercorp.com), may make its commercial debut in Suriname. Albert Conti, Haber’s CEO, says the Republic of Suriname has made a commitment to develop a strategic…
Professor Shu Kobayashi, University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan; www.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp), has discovered that bimetallic nanoclusters can catalyze the oxidation of alcohols. Kobayashi’s group has demonstrated the ability to control the reaction pathways of alcohol oxidation to aldehydes, carboxylic acids or esters…
A miniaturized electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer developed by Active Spectrum Inc. (Foster City, Calif.; www.activespectrum.com) can facilitate studies of chemical species with unpaired electrons, such as organic free radicals and transition metal complexes. Available in both online and benchtop…
A team of engineers from the Center for Energy Technology, University of Adelaide (South Australia; www.adelaide.edu.au), the University of Nantes (France) and Mie University (Japan), have proposed a more efficient way to generate power from low to medium temperature (90–260°C)…
Researchers from the Department of Environmental and Applied Chemical Engineering, Gangneung-Wonju National University (Gangneung, South Korea; www.gwnu.ac.kr) are developing a two-step enzymatic route to biodiesel fuel that promises to reduce production costs. The process employs a lipase-producing bacterium and, sequentially,…
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) and Baldor Electric Co. (Fort Smith, Ark.) have agreed that ABB will acquire Baldor in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.2 billion, including $1.1 billion of net debt. Under the terms of the definitive agreement,…
Lummus Technology (The Woodlands, Tex.), a CB&I company (www.cbi.com), has been awarded a contract by Liaoning Tongyi Petrochemical Co. for the license and engineering design of grassroots OCT olefins-conversion units and Catofin dehydrogenation units at several of its sites in…
The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) has increased its monopropylene glycol (MPG) capacity by 15%, an additional 35,000 ton/yr, in the Stade, Germany plant after completion of an advanced energy improvement and technology optimization project. “The investment in our…