Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) show that the global chemical industry started the second quarter on a good note. ACC’s Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that global chemicals production…
The new Biomethane 3000 fixed analyzer (photo) is designed for high-accuracy methane and oxygen readings for biomethane applications, including biogas upgrading and anaerobic digestion. The Biomethane 3000provides continual measurement of methane, carbon dioxide and oxygen with a user-definable fourth gas…
Last month, for the first time, U.S. plastic resin producers publicly committed to measurable targets toward complete recovery and recycling of plastic packaging. The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; www.americanchemistry.com) Plastics Division, which includes 15 of the leading resin manufacturers, announced…
Engineers from across the chemical process industries (CPI) will convene June 11–15 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, for Achema 2018. Over 3,800 exhibitors will showcase some of the world’s newest equipment, services and technologies for the CPI, and a concurrent…
To meet strict sulfur specifications and reduce emissions, amine scrubbing and caustic treatment are frequently used to remove hydrogen sulfide from gas and liquid streams, but these methods are not effective for handling more complex organo-sulfur compounds, such as thiophenes…
The development of denitrification catalysts that can reduce nitrate and nitrite to N2 is critical for sustaining the nitrogen cycle. However, regulating the catalytic selectivity has proven to be a challenge, due to the difficulty of controlling complex multi-electron/proton reactions.…
A thermal-membrane process system, based on the Joule-Thompson effect (JTE) for treating wastewater with high salinity or with a high-level of inorganic contents has been developed by Thermosift Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (Asaripallam, Tamil Nadu, India; www.thermosift.com). The system operates at…
C2H2 hydrogenation Last month, Clariant (Munich, Germany; www.clariant.com) launched OleMax 260, a new selective acetylene-hydrogenation catalyst, which is said to have extremely high ethylene selectivity and operational stability. Specially developed for ethylene producers with “front-end” process configurations, OleMax 260 offers…
One of the major obstacles to making hydrogen economically by splitting water is the high cost of noble-metal electrodes. Less expensive, non-noble metals only function as electrocatalysts under alkaline conditions, where the reaction requires more electricity. Now, professor Ryoichi Ito…
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China; www.cas.cn), led by professor Ying-Jie Zhu, have reported a “smart” fire-alarm wallpaper prepared using ultralong hydroxyapatite nanowires and graphene oxide thermosensitive sensors. At room temperature, the graphene-oxide sensor is an electrical…