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Catalytic advances enable methane conversion without coking

The large supply of unconventional natural gas from shale deposits in the U.S. has increased attention on utilizing small alkanes to synthesize higher-value chemicals and fuels, while avoiding thermal steam-cracking, which is energy-intensive. Attempts to catalytically convert methane, ethane and…

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Business News February 2018

Plant Watch Asahi Kasei to increase global production capacity for LIB separators January 11, 2018 — Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) will increase production capacity for lithium-ion battery (LIB) separators at its plants in North Carolina and Shiga, Japan.…

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Placing Data Analytics in the Hands of Engineers

The field of data analytics is evolving quickly, and an increasing number of tools are being designed with chemical engineers in mind Big data, smart devices, Internet of Things (IoT) — these are terms heard more and more frequently in…

Size Reduction: Improving the Daily Grind

New milling, grinding and size-reduction equipment helps processors obtain better efficiencies and develop new products Although milling and size-reduction equipment may be mature — some technologies date back to the 1800s — evolving needs of chemical processors, including the demand…

Focus on Motors and Drives

New line of stepper motion-control products released This product line includes controllers, stepper motors, an integrated controller/drive, an integrated drive/stepper motor, and an integrated controller/drive/stepper motor (photo). The integrated controller/drive and drive/stepper motor units save space and money, and simplify…

Effectively remove air, gas and water vapor from many materials

The MV benchtop vacuum-degassing chamber (photo) is constructed from 304 stainless steel with a pump-out port, isolation valve, vent valve and vacuum gage, as well as an inlet trap to prevent damage to the vacuum pump from vapors. Featuring a…

Use this tablet to connect almost any field device

The Field Xpert SMT70 (photo) is a rugged tablet for commissioning and maintenance staff that manages field instruments and documents the work progress. The tablet comes pre-installed with the DeviceCare device configuration software and device library. The Field Xpert can…

Embedded anomaly detection improves cybersecurity

This company’s Open Secure Automation (OSA) products (photo) will now include intrinsic anomaly detection (AD) as standard integrated functionality that continuously monitors the controller’s network and system time to detect intrusions and abnormal behavior. The AD system includes dynamic port-connection…

New software features for CFD, thermodynamics and more

Version 5.3a, the latest release of this company’s Multiphysics software (photo), provides many enhanced simulation capabilities for users of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, including up to 40% improved performance for algebraic multigrid (AMG) and 20% for geometric multigrid (GMG)…

Protect against slips and falls with these absorbent floor mats

TASKBrand SureGrip absorbent adhesive floor mats (photo) feature next-generation sorbent technology to help prevent slips, trips and falls and protect floors from moisture with impermeable adhesive backing. The mats are fast-drying and can be easily custom cut for hard-to-fit areas.…