The amount of crude oil remaining in depleted oil fields has been estimated to be about 50 – 80% of the total estimated oil reserves. In the past, CO2 has been injected into such wells for enhanced-oil recovery — a…
A plastic membrane that allows CO2 and other small molecules to move through its pores while largely preventing the movement of larger molecules like CH4, has been developed by a team of researchers from CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering and…
Süd-Chemie Zeolites GmbH, a subsidiary of Süd-Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-539) has begun to expand its production plant for new specialty zeolites, and also construct a new wastewater processing plant, at its Bitterfeld site in Germany. The investment amounts to…
Last month at a gala dinner at New York’s Rainbow Room, Chemical Engineering (CE) had the pleasure of honoring this year’s finalists and the winner of the 2007 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award, a biennial prize that the magazine has…
The blood-cholesterol-lowering effects of beta-glucan — the soluble oat fiber — is well known, but up to now it has been difficult to obtain beta-glucan-rich fractions that are feasible for food applications, according to VTT Technical Research Center (Espoo, Finland,…
Plant Watch Clean gasoline technologies planned for SPRC in Thailand November 14, 2007 — The Star Petroleum Corp. (SPRC) has selected Axens’ technologies for its clean gasoline project in Rayong, Thailand. SPRC will install a 22,640-bbd/d grassroots unit that will…
NRG Energy, Inc. (Princeton, N.J.) and Powerspan Corp. (Portsmouth, N.H.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-541) plan to demonstrate, at commercial scale, Powerspan’s ECO2 technology for capturing CO2 from conventional coal-fired power plants. To date, CO2 -capture demonstrations on coal plants have been conducted at…
In Malaysia, the raw material for biodiesel production has been palm oil. However, making biodiesel can conflict with the oil’s use as food, and growing palm oil (even for food) has caused the destruction of tropical forests in Borneo, Sumatra…
Megtec Systems (Glen Waverly, Victoria, Australia; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-542) has announced the first power plant fueled by methane emissions from coal-mine ventilation air. Traditionally, CH4 released during coal excavation requires dilution in ventilation air because it is explosive at concentrations between 5…
KBR (Houston, Tex.; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a $57-million contract by MAN Ferrostaal AG (MFS) to provide basic and detailed engineering services for an 1,800 m.t./d ammonia plant for Petroquímica de Venezuela, S.A. (Pequiven). The plant will be the first…