In The News
An enhanced photocatalyst for making H2 from water
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…
Combined CO2 mitigation and H2S removal
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…
H2 unit combines production, purification and compression
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…
Using DME to extract ‘green crude’ from algae
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…
Forward osmosis moves a step closer to commercialization
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,…
Energy efficiency prize for alumina production
At the Hannover Messe 2010, Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A. (Alunorte; Barcarena, Brazil; www.alunorte.net) and Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) received the X Prize (special recognition) for energy efficiency in alumina production. The award, part of the German Energy Agencys…
June Chementator Briefs
An new olefins process A 40,000-m.t./yr demonstration plant for a new process that produces olefins by catalytic cracking of paraffins-rich naphtha will be started up in October by SK energy (Seoul, South Korea; www.skenergy.com) at Ulsan, South Korea. Developed jointly…
Cellulosic biofuel demonstration in China
Novozymes A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark: www.novozymes.com), COFCO Ltd. (www.cofco.com/en) and Sinopec Corp. (both Beijing, China; english.sinopec.com) signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering the next steps towards commercialization of cellulosic biofuel in China. As part of the agreement, COFCO and Sinopec will build a…
Milestones in distributed production of biofuels
A biomass-to-liquids (BTL) demonstration plant jointly operated by the Oxford Catalysts Group Plc. (Abingdon, U.K.; www.oxfordcatalysts.com) and the Portuguese incorporated holding company, SGC Energia (SGCE; www.sgc.pt), for the small-scale distributed production of biofuels has achieved some significant commissioning milestones. The…
Flexible carbon capture CFB technology moves closer to commercialization
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) has signed, together with ENDESA and the Spanish Foundation, Fundación Ciudad de la Energía (CIUDEN), a grant agreement with the European Commission (EC; Brussels, Belgium). The grant agreement stipulates the terms of €180 million…