A plasma-based process has achieved a 30% yield of methanol from methane in a microreactor system developed by a research team led by Tomohiro Nozaki, associate professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology (TiTech; Tokyo, www.mech.titech.ac.jp). The yield is nearly the…
Westec Environmental Solutions, LLC (WES; Chicago, Ill.; www.wes-worldwide.com) has developed a gas-liquid absorption technology that can dramatically enhance mass transfer in gas-liquid absorption, extraction and scrubbing systems. The patented WES Absorber operates co-currently and creates a micro-froth matrix that intensifies…
Enerkem Inc. (Montreal, Can-ada; www.enerkem.com) has broken ground in Edmonton, Alberta, on what is said to be the world’s first industrial-scale plant to produce liquid fuel from municipal solid waste. When the plant starts up at the end of 2011,…
As demand for rare-earth metals in a wide range of technology applications continues to increase, efforts to reestablish mining and production of rare-earth elements (REEs) is underway outside China, currently the dominant force in REE production. Future supplies of REEs…
Plastic derived from corn, used mostly for bottles and cups, costs about 20% more than petroleum-based plastics, but has two desirable qualities: it comes from a renewable resource and is biodegradable. However, the use of the plastic — polylactic acid…
Graphene Laboratories Inc. (Reading, Mass.; www.graphenelab.com) and CVD Equipment Corp. (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; www.cvdequipment.com) recently announced the commercial launch of single-layer graphene films, marketed as CVDGraphene, grown by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Using slightly modified CVD equipment that has…
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been awarded an order from an Italian company IRASCO for the supply of technology for National Iranian Copper Industries Co.'s copper concentrator expansion located in Sarcheshmeh in Iran. The contract value is nearly €40…
Toyo Engineering Corp. China, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp), has been awarded a contract for an ethanolamine (ETA) production plant to be constructed in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, by Honam Petrochemical Corp. (Korea;…
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced today that it was awarded the Project Hijau Gasoil Phase-1 by Shell Refining Company FOM Malaysia. The project comprises a new 6,000 metric tons (m.t.) per day diesel-processing unit located in Port Dickson, Malaysia.…
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has received a contract from Huntsman Corp. (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.huntsman.com) to provide engineering, procurement, construction management and turnaround management services for a capacity expansion of Huntsman's polyether amines manufacturing facility on Jurong…