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Editor’s Page: Hazardous Waste Management
Hazardous waste management is often discussed in the context of environmental and public health impact, and rightly so; those areas are important. But recently, an interesting report took a look at hazardous waste management from a different angle: its impact…
Business News: November 2026
Plant Watch MOL Group opens first biomethane plant in Szarvas, Hungary October 14, 2026 — MOL Group Plc. (Budapest, Hungary; molgroup.info) inaugurated its first biomethane plant in Szarvas, Hungary. As a result of the investment of more than HUF 2.7…
The Scale-up Gap in Bio-based Materials
Successful pilot operations are a necessary first step, but for bio-based processes, getting a product plant-ready requires navigating the gap between research environments and industrial plant settings A successful pilot batch has a way of changing the mood in a…
Downcomer Backup Flooding: In Search of the Truth
Correctly identifying flood mechanisms that limit throughput in a distillation column is central to maximizing capacity and debottlenecking. Guidelines for diagnosing the mechanism are described in Ref. 1. This column recounts a case of downcomer backup flooding. Backup from frothy…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Key Considerations for Control-Valve Specification
Control valves ensure safe and efficient operation of process plants by regulating the fluid flow in connected pipes. This one-page reference outlines key considerations for specifying control valves during the design phase of a plant. Valve sizing. The size of…
New technique for recycling composite materials breaks down thermoset to recover fibers
Poly(dicyclopentadiene), or pDCPD, is a thermoset plastic often used with fiberglass or carbon fibers to make high-strength, lightweight composite materials. Such composites are difficult to recycle practically, leaving environmentally harmful incineration as the most common end-of-life scenario. Now, a team…
Fully autonomous modules produce carbon-neutral synthetic natural gas
Rivan Industries (London, U.K.; www.rivan.com) has deployed its first full-scale modular synthetic natural gas (SNG) system, marking a milestone in autonomous fuels production at scale. Powered by a 1-MW solar array, the SNG system’s only inputs are rainwater and CO2,…
Epoxy-based composite demonstrated as a fixative for radioactively contaminated surfaces
Decommissioning nuclear sites is a complex technical and environmental challenge. A recent project undertaken by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) has demonstrated a method for immobilizing radioactive contaminants on surfaces. The approach would reduce the spread of…
Show Preview: Clean Americas
CLEAN Americas Week (Dallas, Tex.; Nov. 9–11) is the culmination of the decades of experience and community built by three legacy events — CLEAN Gulf, CLEAN Waterways and CLEAN Pacific. The three events have now been combined for the first…
A sulfur-based substitute for bitumen as a binder in road asphalt
Demand for bitumen as a binding agent for road asphalt is growing, but supplies are not expected to keep pace. Startup company Uberbinder (Liverpool, U.K.; www.uberbinder.com) has developed a manufacturing platform to tackle this challenge with an alternative solution: a…