In The News
Catalytic process cuts the cost of biodiesel fuel
Biodiesel fuel is being produced for under $2/gal from product wastes in a process commercialized by Ever Cat Fuels (Anoka, Minn.; www.evercatfuels.com). This is comparable to the cost of diesel fuel obtained from petroleum, says Arlin Gyberg, a co-inventor of the…
A less risky way to manufacture and transport nanoparticle products
As producers continue to develop new applications for nanoparticles, the health, safety and environmental (HSE) hazards associated with these miniscule particles remain uncertain and controversial. To minimize the HSE risks for handling nanoparticles, GEA Niro, (Søborg, Denmark; www.niro.com) has developed…
‘Venus flytrap’ — a new way to treat nuclear waste
The cleanup of nuclear waste could be simplified by a process being developed at Northwestern University (Chicago, Ill.; www.northwestern.edu) and Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, Ill.; www.anl.gov). Nuclear waste consists mainly of non-toxic sodium ions, but this is mixed with a…
A quick way to tell when to pick cotton
An instrument called the Cottonscope, which automatically measures cotton maturity in 25 s, has been developed by CSIRO Cotton Research Unit (Melbourne, Australia; www.csiro.au). The unit’s leader, Stuart Gordon, says the instrument has been used to measure when a crop…
Commercial production of carbon nanotubes
This month, Showa Denko K. K. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) will begin marketing its carbon-nanotube (CNT) product, tradenamed VGCF-X. The company produces the CNTs in its new, 400-ton/yr production plant at its Oita facility, and plans to ramp up production to…
The Road to Recovery
Like most other businesses, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms have felt the pinch of the economic downturn. While EPCs that specialize in building processing plants are optimistic that recent global interest in renewable and bioprocessing projects to create alternative…
A CO2-to-fuel process demonstrated
Scientists at Carbon Sciences Inc. (Santa Barbara, Calif.; www.carbonsciences.com) have successfully demonstrated a CO2-to-fuel process that proceeds under mild conditions using fluegas emissions as a carbon dioxide source and brackish water as a hydrogen source. The modular, three-step process is…
Total announces plans to repurpose its Dunkirk refinery site and more business briefs
Outotec to deliver a copper smelter for plant in China March 16, 2010 — Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; http://www.outotec.com) has been awarded a contract by Tongling Non-Ferrous Metals Group for the design and delivery of a new copper smelter to…
April Chementator Briefs
A hard biomaterial Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Applied Materials Research (IFAM; Bremen, Germany; www.ifam.fraunhofer.de) have developed a granulate form of a biomaterial that may replace titanium used as screws and other hardware in medical applications.…
Lonza: new manufacturing facility for L-Carnitine products
Lonza (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com) announced today its expansion of capacities for Carnipure and Carniking, L-Carnitine products belonging to Lonza’s Nutrition business within Life Science Ingredients. The expansion is in line with Lonza’s long-term strategy for nutrition ingredients and will support the…