Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and improved technologies for providing robots with positional awareness have driven an expansion of robotics use in a variety of application areas across the chemical process industries (CPI) Robots have been fixtures on discrete-product manufacturing…
DESALINATION The challenge for large-scale desalination is to improve the performance of membranes used for reverse osmosis. One promising method is to introduce artificial water channels (AWCs) into synthetic membranes, to imitate the aquaporins of biological proteins for transporting water.…
The cryptography working group within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF; Fremont, Calif.; www.ieft.org) standards organization has chosen the CPace protocol — developed by Endress + Hauser AG (Reinach, Switzerland; www.endress.com) — as a recommended method for use in internet…
Filtration is being investigated as an alternative to thermal separation methods (such as distillation and evaporation) in many applications because of the potential energy savings, but conventional filtration membranes, such as those used in water desalination, are often not robust…
Drawing inspiration from the enzymatic breakdown of macromolecules in cellular systems, scientists at Ames Laboratory (Ames, Iowa; www.ameslab.gov) have developed a nanostructured catalyst that can break down high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and other polyolefins into a narrow distribution of diesel- and…
In an example of a biologically inspired and nano-engineered catalyst, researchers at RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia; www.rmit.edu.au) have developed ceramic catalyst particles with a porous network organized hierarchically, where one chemical reaction takes place within larger pores, while a second…
Researchers from the College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University (Nanjing, China; www.njtech.edu.cn) have developed a new strategy for forming lithium ion-sieve membranes to achieve an efficient recovery of lithium ions from brine or seawater. Spinel lithium manganese oxide ion-sieves…
Plant Watch Momentive to expand production of polyurethane additives in Italy November 12, 2020 — Momentive Performance Materials Inc. (Waterford, N.Y.; www.momentive.com) will invest $13 million to expand its plant in Termoli, Italy to create a large manufacturing hub for…
A new modular process based on microwave-plasma reactors aims to efficiently convert natural gas into acetylene and H2 without combustion or CO2 formation. Transform Materials LLC (Riviera Beach, Fla.; www.transformmaterials.com) has designed a reactor that overcomes some of the previous…
Magnesia cements have been around for thousands of years, and have been explored extensively over recent decades primarily because of their capacity to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere at ambient temperatures. Until now, however, their use has been limited to…