At Achema 2018 (June 11–15; Frankfurt am Main, Germany), EvCon GmbH (Pliening-Landsham, Germany; www.evcon-water.com) showcased its new UPWater treatment system, which employs a patented vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation (VMEMD) technology to obtain ultra-pure water using less energy than comparable water-treatment…
The two main barriers to widespread use of fuel cells have been securing a reliable source of hydrogen that avoids CO2 emissions, and cost — they have traditionally depended on expensive platinum and palladium catalyst materials. GenCell Energy Ltd. (Petach…
Last month, thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions AG (Dortmund, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com) launched industrial-scale water electrolysis systems that make large-scale hydrogen production from renewable electricity economically attractive. The advanced water electrolyzer (diagram) features a well-proven cell design paired with an especially large (2.7…
As the volume of discarded electronic gadgets grows, efforts are underway to recover the precious resources trapped inside It should come as no surprise that the fastest growing part of the world’s domestic waste stream is e-waste — discarded products…
Data analytics, connectivity and machine learning are helping processors maintain facilities in a more cost-efficient way Modern technologies, such as smart sensors, data analytics, the industrial internet of things (IIoT) and machine learning, are changing the face of maintenance to…
Many methods have been developed to remove spilled oil and organic pollutants from water, but they all entail shortcomings, such as low absorption ability and poor buoyancy. Now, a team from the School of Light Industry and Chemical Engineering, Dalian…
CSIRO (Perth, Australia; www.csiro.au) and the University of Western Australia (www.uwa.edu.au) have developed a first-of-its-kind pilot plant for high-pressure cryogenic distillation processes. “Although cryogenic distillation is practiced in industry and there are some models that can be applied to cryogenic…
The growing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has created incentives to improve processes for extracting lithium from brine. Current Li-extraction processes involve pumping brine from underground into shallow pools for evaporation and concentration. But the traditional method has several significant…
Plant Watch Arkema to expand polyamide powder production capacity in France June 6, 2018 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) plans to expand its global production capacity for specialty polyamide powders marketed under the brand name Orgasol by more than 50%…
Membranes present a lower-energy alternative to distillation for the separation of hydrocarbons, but these processes are often limited by prohibitively expensive materials or intricate fabrication steps. Now, a team of researchers from Texas A&M University (TAMU; College Station, Tex.; www.tamu.edu)…