Codexis (Redwood City, Calif.; www.codexis.com) and CO2 Solution (Quebec City, Canada; www.co2solution.com) have jointly developed a cost-effective method for capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants. Solvent-based systems for capturing CO2 are relatively well-understood, but they have not been widely…
A magnetic composite based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has been developed by a Korean team with an exceptional capacity to remove arsenic from drinking water. The team, headed by professor Kwang S. Kim from the Center for Superfunctional Materials,…
An enhanced reactor technology that boosts the speed of producing bioethanol by a factor of four while decreasing production costs by 25% compared to a stirred batch fermenter has been developed by IHI Corp. (IHI; Tokyo; www.ihi.co.jp). The technology features…
Dow Water and Process Solutions (DW&PS; Minneapolis, Minn.; www.dowwaterandprocess.com), a business unit of The Dow Chemical Co., unveiled a simplified electrodeionization (EDI) product at the recent Singapore International Water Week event. The new version of the product reduces operating costs…
Calsmelt Pty Ltd. (Melbourne, Australia; www.calsmelt.com) is marketing a new carbothermic process for producing metallic aluminum. Tradenamed Thermical, the process is said to entail significant advantages over Alcoa’s carbothermic process, the Advanced Reactor Process (ARP). Under development for several years,…
A process that promises a significant reduction in the cost of removing sulfur from coal-derived synthesis gas (syngas) will be tested in a 50-MWe demonstration unit at Tampa (Fla.) Electric Company’s 250-MWe integrated gasification-combined cycle (IGCC) power plant. RTI International…
A next-generation, carbon-enhanced membrane-bioreactor (MBR) system improves treatment of industrial wastewater with high organic content and containing compounds that resist microbial breakdown. The system allows economic reuse of wastewater or discharge to meet stringent environmental standards. The new MBR, dubbed…
Last month, Pittsburgh Iron Oxides, LLC (Pirox; New Brighton, Pa.; www.piroxllc.com) was granted U.S. patent No. 7,744,848 for its process of producing high-purity magnetite (Fe3O4). The company produces synthetic magnetite, tradenamed SuperMagnetite, which has greater than 99% purity and exhibits…
Flyanic LLC (Newark, N.J.; www.flyanic.com) has developed an industrial-scale and economical process for grinding cement, flyash and other cementitious materials to a median particle size of 1 micron, making them suitable for use in concrete and mortar. For example, flyash…
The research group of Kazuo Tajima at Kanagawa University (Yokohama, Japan; apchem2.kanagawa-u.ac.jp) have developed a new emulsification process that enables biodiesel fuels (BDFs) to be used without any purification process, thereby reducing production costs by one fourth. Tajima estimates that…