In The News
Chementator: A commercial breakthrough in alcohol oxidation
Nissan Chemical Industries Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-538) is commercializing "ultrahighly active" catalysts, based on the catalyst technology developed by professor Yoshiharu Iwabuchi of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan), which catalyzes the oxidation of alcohols into…
Chementator: Soy polymers may have a future in drug delivery
Soy-oil-based hydrogels developed by the U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) show promise as biodegradable encapsulants for drug delivery. Scientists at ARS’ National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (Peoria, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-539) have collaborated with researchers at the University of Toronto to…
Chementator: MIR spectrometer on a chip
Infrared (IR) analyzers are widely used for gas, liquid and surface analysis. Up to now, the most common and inexpensive IR sensor has been a combination of filters (non-dispersive IR) — which have a restricted wavelength band — with a…
Chementator: Propylene or diesel fuel? Just change the controls
Petroleum refiners can have the option to produce more diesel fuel or propylene from their fluid catalytic crackers, depending on the demand, through a new process offered by Shell Global Solutions (edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-541). The process enables a typical FCC (processing a…
Chementator: Controling corrosion and odor from sewers
At last month’s IFAT Trade Exhibition (May 5 – 9; Munich, Germany), Kemira Water (Helsingborg, Finland; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-542) introduced, H2S-Guard, a system that monitors, controls and protects against odor and corrosion in sewage networks. The system consists of H2S measurement devices…
Chementator: Smart pump control
Kadant AES (Queensbury, N.Y.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-543) has introduced a patented control technology for high-pressure positive-displacement (HPPD) pumps, which is said to be capable of reducing energy usage by up to 60%. The so-called UniGY PhD (Pump-modeling hydraulic drive) uses pump-modeling software…
Chementator: Plastics from CO2?
Researchers from the Organic Chemistry Dept. at Newcastle University (U.K.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-544) have developed aluminium (salen) complexes that exhibit "exceptional" activity for catalyzing the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 and epoxides. Cyclic carbonates are widely used for the production of…
Chementator: Improved transistor
Researchers at the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University (Sweden; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7373-545) have used nanotechnology to develop a transistor that is said to be 50 times more energy efficient that conventional models. The prototype transistor is made of indium arsenide, where the…
Economic Indicators: Business News
Plant Watch A new cement plant is planned for Arizona May 19, 2008 — ABB has won an order to provide a complete electrical power and automation system for Drake Cement’s new plant in Yavapai County, Arizona. The 660,000-ton/yr plant…
Lurgi signs contract for melamine plant in Russia
Lurgi GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany; www.lurgi.com), and EuroChem (Moscow), have signed two contracts with a total value of 92.7 million euros for the design and supply of a melamine plant. The melamine unit, which will be the first of its kind…