A newly launched technology known as Flare Buster is capable of converting natural gas streams, such as flare gas and stranded gas from remote sites, to synthesis gas (syngas) and then to synthetic crude oil via a Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis…
A new process technology from Aggreko North America plc (Houston; www.us.aggreko.com) aims to make turnarounds at petroleum refineries more cost-effective by decreasing the time required for catalyst cooling. The catalyst materials used for refining operations, such as hydrotreating, hydrocracking and…
Surface-modified ceramic materials have been developed to disinfect water and air and other fluids without requiring additional chemicals or energy input. Developed by Claire Technologies (Raleigh, N.C.; www.claire-tech.com), the disinfection media consist of silica- and alumina-based pellets that have been…
Forward osmosis (FO), whereby a concentrated salt solution is used to “draw” water through a membrane from a less-concentrated salt solution (via osmotic pressure), has the advantage over reverse osmosis (RO) in that high pressures, with the associated pumps and…
A set of technologies that create an immobilized thin layer of lubricant on a solid surface, thus enabling highly repellent, omniphobic surfaces, has moved closer to commercial application. Known as slippery, liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS), the technologies can be applied…
The efficiency of circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) combustors can be significantly increased by substituting conventional bed material with an ilmenite-based bed material, according to researchers at Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg, Sweden; www.chalmers.se). Conventional CFB boilers use silica sand to evenly…
In late September, GE Power & Water (Trevose, Pa.; www.gewater.com) introduced its new Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor (MABR) technology, tradenamed ZeeLung, at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference (Weftec; Chicago, Ill., September 26–30; www.weftec.org). This technology is poised…
CO2 to formic acid Professor Yutaka Amao and colleagues at Osaka City University (Osaka City, Japan; www.osaka-cu.ac.jp/en) have enhanced the photocatalytic efficiency for the conversion of CO2 to formic acid by up to 20 times. The efficiency boost was achieved…
A new composite-membrane distillation process capable of removing salt, toxic elements and microorganisms from water is being offered commercially for the first time this month. The process, known as NanoClear, was developed by Dais Analytic Corp. (Odessa, Fla.; www.daisanalytic.com) for…
A novel solvent can reduce the costs of capturing and recovering carbon dioxide from gas mixtures compared to the use of amine-based solvents, such as monoethanolamine (MEA). The solvent, along with an associated cyclic absorption-desorption process, was developed by Carbon…