A catalytic process to selectively break carbon-carbon bonds within the polymer chains of polyethylene and polypropylene could allow the use of waste plastics to make biodegradable surfactant molecules. Researchers led by the Institute for Cooperative Upcycling of Plastics (iCOUP) at…
A technology that increases the heat-dissipating properties of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) to that of metals has been developed by Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toray.com). Applying this technology to CFRP dissipates heat effectively from their sources through thermal conduction paths…
A cyclic activated-sludge (AS) process, trademarked te-cyc, combines biological treatment and solids settlement in a single treatment step, thereby significantly reducing the footprint compared to a conventional AS plant, which requires three separate processes — primary settlement tanks, aeration tanks…
Although the oceans contain about 5,000 times more lithium than what is found on land, the low concentrations (about 0.2 parts per million (ppm)), as well as the predominance of other larger ions (sodium, magnesium and potassium) makes Li extraction…
Plant Watch Huntsman to increase ethylene carbonate production capacity June 14, 2021 — The Performance Products division of Huntsman Corp. (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.huntsman.com) is planning to significantly increase existing production capacity for ethylene carbonate at its Conroe, Texas facility…
Extracting Li Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Ltd. (Changwon, South Korea; www.doosanheavy.com) has developed technology for recovering lithium carbonate from waste batteries. Li2CO3 is a key material that is used in batteries in electronic devices, such as laptops and mobile…
New innovations in temperature sensors, calibration and associated equipment are helping to keep plants operating reliably and safely Temperature is one of the most important process parameters that needs to be measured and controlled in the chemical process industries (CPI).…
Reduce costs for purging large-diameter pipes Care is necessary when welding large-diameter pipework in stainless, duplex and chrome steels, nickel alloys and zirconium. When welding such reactive materials, they need to be purged of oxygen before, during and after welding,…
Many process plants have difficulty finding ideal installation points for flow-measurement devices due to requirements for long length of inlet run and undisturbed flows. The Prosonic Flow P 500 (photo) addresses these and other issues with its FlowDC function. The…
The InlineSENS (photo) density measuring system combines both a radiation source and scintillation detector in one device. Its use of low-energy gamma radiation provides strong responses to even the slightest change in product composition, with extremely low dose rates. The…