Although nanoporous silica membranes are promising systems for the molecular separation of gases and liquids, they lack microstructural stability in the presence of water at temperatures as low as 60°C. Prolonged exposure to water causes hydrolysis, resulting in the formation…
Ateam of researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL, Argonne, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-568) has developed a membrane capable of producing olefins from alkanes, and reducing wasted energy and pollutants while improving selectivity and yield. Steam cracking, or…
Flowserve Corp. (Dallas, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-569) has introduced a new noise-attenuating valve-trim for gaseous applications, one that simultaneously lowers the device’s manufacturing costs while improving its noise reduction capabilities. Like prior noise-attenuation trim, Flowserve’s Valtek Stealth is designed to reduce the…
Despite challenges created by a building frenzy in the Middle East and Asia, E&C firms continue to deliver new chemical facilities around the world Anyone with an ear to the door of the chemical process industries (CPI) knows that the…
The behavior of many different phenomena can be modeled by systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), but most ODEs cannot be solved analytically, in which case an approximation to the solution is found by applying numerical integration methods. Dutch-sponsored mathematician…
Fuel cells and hydrogen economy are inevitably used in the same breath when talking about clean power and ways to wean us from our addiction to carbon-based fuels. That’s because H2 -based fuel cells make electricity and heat with only…
Scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Chilton, Didcot, U.K.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-573) have developed a laser-based method for the characterization of the bulk-chemical content of pharmaceutical capsules — without opening the capsules. In collaboration with researchers…
Plant Watch Dynamotive in advanced negotiations for Biooil plant February 14, 2008 — Dynamotive USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dynamotive Energy Systems Corp., is in negotiations with officials to ascertain the feasibility of locating one or more "fast-pyrolysis"…
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE; Freiburg, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-575) have developed a solar-cell prototype that is semi-transparent, color-tunable and (thus far) resistant to weather degradation. A "classical Grätzel cell" according to Andreas Gombert head of Fraunhofer’s…
Scientists from the Center Biology at University College Dublin (Ireland; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-576) and the University of Bologna (Italy; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-577) have developed an enzymatic process that can be applied to the synthesis of chiral pharmaceutical intermediates. The researchers use an enzyme called…