In The News
Pilot plant to demonstrate advanced vapor-compression desalination nears completion
Researchers at Texas A&M University (College Station, Tex.; www.tamu.edu) are poised to complete assembly of a pilot project that seeks to demonstrate the commercial viability of advanced vapor-compression desalination, an updated version of a decades-old distillation technology first developed for…
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 highly efficient microwave reactor continuously produces metallic nanoparticles
The process, developed by Masateru Nishioka at the Research Center for Compact Chemical Process, Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST; Sendai; www.aist.go.jp) in collaboration with Shinko Kagaku (Koshigaya; www.shinkou-kagaku.co.jp), uses a microwave-assisted flow reactor developed by AIST and IDX…
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…
A microwave-assisted process makes nanoparticles underwater
Professor Tetsu Yonezawa at the Materials Science Div. of Hokkaido University (Sapporo; labs.eng.hokudai.ac.jp/labo/limsa/english/), in collaboration with Arios, Inc. (Akishima; www.arios.co.jp) and Suga (Hokuto, all Japan; www.suga.ne.jp), has developed a microwave-assisted device that can continuously generate a plasma under water. In…
Pöyry awarded pulp-mill engineering contract in Brazil
Eldorado Celulose e Papel Ltda (Brazil) has awarded Pöyry Plc. (Helsinki, Finland; www.poyry.com) a contract for pre-engineering and preparatory work for mill infrastructure for a 1.5 million ton/yr bleached eucalyptus market pulp mill to be built in the state of…
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…
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…