Last month, Sunfire GmbH (Dresden, Germany; www.sunfire.de) reported the successful startup and test run (more than 500 h) of a high-temperature, co-electrolysis system at its Dresden site since November 2018. The technology, called Sunfire-Synlink, is based on solid-oxide cells and…
Today, olefins are mainly made either by naphtha cracking or by the catalytic conversion of dimethyl ether (DME), which is in-situ made from synthesis-gas- (syngas) derived methanol (methanol-to-olefin processes). Both naphtha cracking and syngas production (from steam-methane reforming; SMR) require…
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University (CWR; Cleveland, Ohio; www.case.edu) have shown that a hybrid electrolytic system using a gaseous plasma electrode can produce ammonia from water and nitrogen at ambient temperature and pressure — without any catalytic material surface.…
The quest to generate chemicals and fuels from exhaust or atmospheric carbon dioxide got a boost from a series of recent studies by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL; Berkeley, Calif.; www.lbl.gov), in which the scientists proved the viability…
Professor Kazuaki Ishigreo and colleagues at Nagoya University (Nagoya, Japan; http://en.nagoya-u.ac.jp) have shown that a chiral, supramolecular, U-shaped, boron Lewis acid catalyst (diagram) promotes the unprecedented multi-selective Diels–Alder reaction of propargyl aldehyde with cyclic dienes. The Diels–Alder reaction, which is…
From process and materials development to maintenance and logistics, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative force across the chemical process industries As in many other sectors, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are beginning to emerge in the chemical process…
A process that increases the water-recovery from reverse osmosis (RO) while producing a salt byproduct is being developed by Hyrec (Urla/Izmir, Turkey; www.hyrec.co). The process, which uses osmotically assisted RO (OARO), could be especially beneficial in coal-to-chemicals (CTC) plants in…
Using the hierarchy of controls can help guide housekeeping and safety programs to better protect employees and facilities There is a close link between safety and housekeeping for all manufacturers, but facilities that store, handle or process chemicals have an…
New PDH capability A new catalyst for propane dehydrogenation (PDH) that does not include precious metals has been developed by KBR Inc. (Houston, Tex.; www.kbr.com). The new catalyst is incorporated into KBR’s new PDH technology, known as K-PRO, which was…
Queensland Pacific Metals (Brisbane, Australia), a subsidiary of Pure Minerals (Perth, Australia; www.pureminerals.com.au) will use Direct Nickel Projects’ (Perth, Australia) proprietary technology to process New Caledonian nickel and cobalt ore, following favorable test results. Core Metallurgy (Brisbane, Australia) has assessed…