KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by FPR Inc. (Houston) to provide Design and Early Engineering Services for the development of the Araromi Refinery Project in the OK Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) in Nigeria. KBR will execute…
PEMEX Refinación (Mexico; www.ref.pemex.com) has selected Axens Prime-D technology for the production of ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) at its Salina Cruz, Minatitlan and Madero refineries. The scope of work will include license, pilot studies, optimization studies, basic and extended basic…
Ultimo Measurement (Providence, R.I.; www.ultimompd.com) has developed technology for measuring density and viscosity of process fluids, loose solids and mixtures non-invasively — a percussion-based device that can be mounted on the outside of process tanks, pipes or other vessels. The…
Carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes developed by researchers at Rice University (Houston; www.rice.edu) could have applications as nanoparticulate filters, and as nanoscale scaffolds for catalysts. The devices are silicon dioxide wafers with laser-bored holes (~500-µm dia.). The holed wafers are subjected…
Kazuhiro Sayama and colleagues at the Solar Light Energy Conversion Group at Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; Tsukuba, Japan; unit.aist.go.jp/energy), have developed a cesium-treated tungsten oxide photocatalyst that shows a 19% quantum…
Last month at the Global Refining Summit (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; May 17–19), Swapsol Corp. (Monmouth Junction, N.J.; www.swapsol.com) introduced a completely new sour-gas-cleanup process that reduces hydrogen sulfide levels below detectable levels (under 4 ppb) while reacting with carbon dioxide…
A recently developed hydrogen generation unit combines an autothermal, fluidized-bed methane reformer with a metal hydride compressor. Aside from combining the reforming, H2 separation and compression, which are part of conventional H2 generation (top diagram), the engineers behind the system…
Algae has recently become an R&D focus for making third-generation biofuels because these oil-containing microorganisms reproduce so quickly and can be grown away from arable farmland. However, getting the oil from the cells — and the water — is energy…
Solvay Solexix (Solvay; Bollate, Italy; www.solvaysolexis.com) will begin to market its newly-developed Solvene polymer for applications in printed electronics with its partner Thin Film Electronics ASA (Thinfilm; Oslo, Norway; www.thinfilm.se) Solvay and Thinfilm started a collaboration, in 2007, in the…
Oasys Water Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.; www.oasyswater.com) has commercialized a forward-osmosis (FO) membrane as the next step toward introducing its lower-cost desalination and water-reuse technology. The membrane, developed by Professor Menachem Elimelech, chair of chemical engineering at Yale University (New Haven,…