In The News
Chementator: A new syngas catalyst passes pilot tests…
Mitsunori Shimura and colleagues at the R&D Center of Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.chiyoda.co.jp) have developed a new catalyst for producing a synthesis gas (syngas; hydrogen and carbon monoxide) from steam reforming of methane. The catalyst consists of precious metals…
Chementator: A pilot-step closer to second-generation biofuels
Lurgi GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany; www.lurgi.com) is building a pilot plant to demonstrate the viability of its three-stage bioliq process for producing liquid fuels from biomass. The pilot plant — an entrained-flow gasifier for the production of synthesis gas — will…
Chementator: Progress on a promising separation technology
For separating two components with similar volatilities, extractive distillation is typically used, whereby a high-boiling, non-volatile solvent is added to "break the azeotrope" — a process that is both energy intensive and often involves the use of hazardous solvents. In…
Chementator: Sonicating slurries speeds soil remediation
Ultrasound has been applied, with limited success, for the remediation of contaminated soil. Up to now, the approach has been to first extract the contaminant from the soil into a liquid, which is then passed through a sono-reactor where the…
Chementator: A sound way to reuse low-temperature waste heat
In a so-called thermoacoustic engine, researchers from the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN; Petten, Netherlands; www.ecn.nl) have achieved a record efficiency in the conversion of heat to sound, improving the existing record of 41% to 48% of the…
ADT awarded a contract to make diamond biosensors
Advanced Diamond Technologies Inc. (ADT; Romeoville, Ill.; www.thindiamond.com) announces it has been awarded the first phase of a three-year, $4.8-million contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA; www.dtra.mil) to develop diamond-based sensors for the realtime detection of water-based chemical…
Progress in gas-to-products research
hte — the high throughput experimentation company (Heidelberg, Germany; www.hte-company.com) and BP Chemicals Ltd. (Sunbury on Thames, U.K.; www.bp.com) celebrate the fourth consecutive year of a successful working relationship. Over the past four years, hte has helped BP Chemicals…
SulphCo commences full scale field trials in Europe
SulphCo Inc.(Houston, Tex.; www.suphco.com) a technology company with a patented ultrasound process designed to desulphurize crude oil, announced that commercial scale field trials with its European testing partner are scheduled to commence this week. These trials follow the successful completion…
Saltigo expands without interrupting production
Saltigo GmbH (Langenfeld; www.saltigo.com) , a wholly owned subsidiary of specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, both Germany; www.lanxess.com), has demonstrated its wide-ranging expertise in the fields of synthesis optimization and process development. The global specialist for exclusive custom synthesis…
Rotex Europe signs a contract with Tenova Takraf
At the end of 2008, Rotex Europe (Wavre, Belgium; www.rotex.com) has signed with Tenova Takraf Italy a contract for two machines Megatex XD. The new urea plant these two machines are dedicated to will be the largest single train ammonia-urea…