In The News
Chementator: Phthalate-free glue
Henkel KGaA (Düsseldorf, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-581) has developed a new generation of plasticizer-free dispersion adhesives called Adhesin A 78 — a copolymer system whose formulation largely consists of renewable raw materials. The adhesive is said to be especially suitable for food…
Chementator: Chiral synthesis
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…
Newsfront: Braving the Building Boom
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…
Newsfront: Fuel Cells Move into the CPI Plant
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…
Economic Indicators: Business News
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"…
Chementator: A new Mg2Si-production process promises to advance thermoelectric devices
The Seebeck effect — the direct conversion of a temperature difference to electricity — is responsible for the operation of thermocouples. But taking advantage of this phenomenon to make electricity from waste heat in so-called thermoelectric (TE) devices has been…
Chementator: A portable analyzer for toxicity in humans
The standard way to test for toxicity in individuals who have been exposed to heavy metals is to take a blood sample and analyze it in the laboratory by plasma mass spectrometry, an expensive and time-consuming procedure. Now, a portable…
Chementator: A promising nanosieve for dehydrating solvents and biofuels
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…
Chementator: Methane-to-gasoline process nears commercialization
Synfuels International, Inc. (Dallas, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-561) plans to commercialize its patented gas-to-liquids (GTL) process in Kuwait through a newly formed partnership with Kuwait’s Aref Energy Holding (edlinks.chemengonline.com/7370-562). In contrast with Fischer-Tropsch technology, the process produces a high-octane gasoline blend, rather…
Chementator: Ceramic ethane-to-ethylene membrane could replace pyrolysis
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…