E-Cracking Last month, construction began on the world’s first demonstration plant for large-scale, electrically heated steam cracker furnaces. The demonstration plant will be fully integrated into one of the existing steam crackers at BASF’s Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. It…
A new paper material developed at Northeastern University (Boston, Mass.; www.northeastern.edu) is capable of passive cooling, potentially reducing the energy load required for air conditioning in buildings. “The paper is made from fibers of a calcium-based material called hydroxyapatite. The…
In August, Synhelion S.A. (Lugano, Switzerland; www.synhelion.com) became the first company in the world to produce synthesis gas (syngas) on an industrial scale using only solar heat as an energy source. The milestone occurred on the multifocus solar tower of…
Plant Watch Gevo breaks ground on commercial-scale SAF facility in South Dakota September 16, 2022 — Gevo, Inc. (Englewood, Colo.; www.gevo.com) announced the groundbreaking in South Dakota of its first commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility, Net-Zero 1 (NZ1). This…
At Achema 2022 (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; August 22–26), a new compressor designed for hydrogen service was launched by Aerzen Machinenfabrik GmbH (Aerzen, Germany; www.aerzen.com). “We consider this solution to be the game changer in the market,” said Michael Leitsch,…
Evonik Industries Ag (Essen, Germany) has announced progress to make the recycling of lithium simpler, more cost-effective, and more environmentally friendly. This metal is essential for the batteries used to drive millions of electric vehicles. At present, however, up to…
Chemists from the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Freiburg (Germany; uni-freiburg.de) have synthesized a cationic, low-valence aluminum complex salt. “So far, there has been only one example of a cationic, low-valent aluminum compound, but it…
Last month at Achema 2022 (August 22–26; Frankfurt am Main, Germany), Q.ANT GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany; www.qant.de) introduced what is said to be the world’s first industrial-grade quantum sensor (photo) for particle analysis. By the use of super-fast software, electronics and…
Zero-spin Silicon Natural silicon consists of three isotopes: 28Si (92.2%) and 30Si (3.1%) — each with zero electron spin state — and 29Si (4.7%) with a spin state of one half. The presence of 29Si in concentrations above 500 parts…
An adaptable sintered filter element that is manufactured by 3D printing will be introduced this month at the Powtech exhibition (September 27–29; Nuremberg, Germany). Developed by Herding GmbH Filtertechnik (Amberg, Germany; www.herding.com), Omikron is an adaptable sinter-plate filter element that…