In early April, 6th Wave Innovations Corp. (Salt Lake City, Utah; www.6wic.com) and CyPlus GmbH (Hanau-Wolfgang, Germany; www.cyplus.com) signed a sales and marketing representative agreement for IXOS nanotech gold extraction resin for the mining industry. CyPlus will represent 6th Wave…
Bio-based isobutanol is attractive as a renewable blendstock for gasoline because it has higher energy density than bioethanol, and does not impose vehicle-range penalties as a fuel additive, but thus far, processes to synthesize and isolate isobutanol have required a…
Depolymerization Last month, DuPont Teijin Films Ltd. (DTF; Contern, Luxembourg; www.dupontteijinfilms.com) launched its new LuxCR depolymerization process, which upcycles post-consumer waste into a variety of biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) films. The LuxCR process depolymerizes mechanically recovered PET flake back…
An international research team led by RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia; www.rmit.edu.au) has developed a technique for efficiently converting CO2 to carbon. The team included researchers from the University of Münster (Germany), Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (China), North Carolina…
Borne out of a cancer research project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge; www.mit.edu), a new enzymatic process technology can co-produce gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide without the safety risks and complexity of typical large-scale peroxide-manufacturing processes. Solugen Inc. (Houston;…
Thermoplastic starch, a biodegradable polysaccharide, is an attractive material for environmentally friendly plastics, but its cost and molecular properties have prevented it from being used in thin films. A process for a new starch plastic resin allows the material to…
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been touted as game-changing nanomaterials in a wide variety of areas, but their actual commercial success has been less than expected thus far. To a large extent, the difficulty has centered around the tendency of CNTs…
High-temperature synthesis of ceramics and other materials normally requires a cost-intensive inerting atmosphere to prevent oxidation. Now, researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany; www.fz-juelich.de) have developed a process — the molten salt shielded synthesis/sintering (MS3) process — that used molten salts…
Plant Watch Arkema starts up photocure resin expansion in China April 11, 2019 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) started up the 30% capacity extension of its photocure liquid-resin production plant in Nansha, located near Canton, China. This new production line…
Many indicators point to current success and prosperity for U.S. petroleum refineries, but simultaneously, the industry is facing a future of massive changes in energy and transportation By many measures, the U.S. petroleum-refining industry is succeeding and prospering. According to…