As chemical manufacturers continue to seek renewable alternatives for fossil-fuel feedstocks, bio-based ethanol is poised to be a crucial raw material in the ethylene value chain for products from jet fuel to plastics. The range of novel-shaped alumina catalyst developed…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and thyssenkrupp Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) achieved measurable improvements in the STAR process, a proprietary dehydrogenation process from thyssenkrupp Uhde that can produce propylene from propane feedstocks, or iso-butylene from iso-butane feedstocks. Beginning in…
Last month, the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA; London, U.K.; https://gccassociation.org) revealed the first six startups that will be backed by its member companies as part of the first ever Innovandi “Open Challenge” in the race to achieve “net…
A multidisciplinary project to scale up a system capable of simultaneously capturing carbon dioxide from fluegas and converting it to ethanol has received $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E; Washington, D.C.; arpa-e.energy.gov). The…
Plant Watch Petrobras to construct new diesel hydrotreating unit at Replan refinery May 12, 2022 — Petrobras (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; www.petrobras.com.br) announced that it signed a contract with the Toyo Setal HDT Paulínia Consortium, formed by the companies TSE…
Mercury removal Scientists at Flinders University (Adelaide, Australia; www.flinders.edu.au) have further characterized their sulfur-limonene polysulfide polymer (Chem. Eng., December 2015, p. 12) to understand the conditions under which it can be used as a mercury sorbent. In a recent issue…
Developed two decades ago, Metso Outotec’s (MO; Helsinki, Finland; www.mogroup.com) Circored process is now being reintroduced as a proven way to help decarbonize the ironmaking process. Developed in the 1990s by the former Lurgi Metallurgie (now part of MO) and…
An expanding number of products are demonstrating the real-world feasibility of incorporating post-consumer polyethylene (PE) into asphalt paving for roadways and parking lots. The set of demonstration projects — part of the New End-Market Opportunities (NEMO) program, under the auspices…
Advances in membrane technologies allow processors to delve into gas- and water-separation applications more effectively and efficiently Conventional membranes have a reputation for being “finicky” and “high maintenance” because they don’t operate well under high pressures or temperatures, are subject…
A new category of electrolysis could significantly lower the expenses associated with producing “green” hydrogen. In the new capillary-fed electrolyzer cell — designed by Hysata (Wollongong, Australia; www.hysata.com) based on research from the University of Wollongong (www.uow.edu.au) — water is…