In The News
Chementator: Smart Shoes
IQTex (Hamburg; Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-553) has developed a ventilation element — integrated into the soles of shoes — that functions like a flower, which closes up in the rain and reopens when dry. As a result, stepping in a puddle causes…
Chementator: A New Way to Make Dispersions
At last month’s CosmoProf exhibition (April 10 – 14; Bologna, Italy), VMI-Rayneri (Montaigu, France; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-531) introduced a new vacuum-injection process for dispersing powder-like solids into liquids or pastes during the production of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food or other chemical products. Normally,…
Chementator: A Wastewater Treatment Plant Passes Pilot Test in China
The Jiashan Yao-chuang wastewater treatment plant in China’s Zhejiang Province has successfully pilot-tested a three-stage, biologically active reactor system that reduces effluent levels to within the nation’s Class 1A standards. (The standards require < 10 mg/L for biological oxygen demand…
Chementator: This Catalyst Helps Visible Light Split Water into H2 and O2
Normally, only the ultraviolet (higher energy) component of the solar spectrum is usable for the photo-catalytic electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen, which takes place in photochemical cells with an anode made of single-crystalline, rutile-type titanium oxide and a…
Chementator: Improving the Performance of HDS Catalysts
Researchers at Oxford Catalysts Ltd. (Oxford, U.K.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-534) have shown that the method of preparation — rather than the identity or combination of metals used — has the greatest influence on the performance of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts. The results of…
Economic Indicators: Business News
Plant Watch New chlor-alkali plant scheduled for Kazakhstan April 23, 2008 — Uhdenora received a contract from AO "Kaustik" for a new membrane chlor-alkali plant to be erected in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. The new plant will have a capacity of 91…
Chementator: A Process for Desulfurizing Natural Gas
A process in which sulfur is extracted from natural gas in the field and converted to sulfur dioxide, which is then injected into the gas reservoir and reacts with hydrogen sulfide in situ to produce elemental sulfur, has been developed…
Solvay launches new product for air-pollution control
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) announces today that its subsidiary Solvay Chemicals, Inc. is expanding its portfolio with a new product named SOLVAir Select 300, which is designed for air-pollution control applications, in particular, the treatment of sulfur dioxide (SO2)…
BASF starts up new nitric-acid plant
BASF S.E. (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has started operating a new plant for the production of nitric acid at its Antwerp Verbund site. Nitric acid is one of the most important inorganic intermediates, and the plant's output will be used mainly…
BASF Coatings starts paints production in Russia
BASF Coatings (Münster, Germany; www.basf-coatings.com) has started up its new production site for paints in Russia. The new facility at Pavlovski Posad, 60 km east of Moscow, has a production capacity of 6,000 m.t./yr of paints (basecoats and clearcoats). The…