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Displaying 1 - 20 of 42 stories.
May 1, 2013
This biodiesel process requires no pre- or post-treatment
Naomi Shibasaki-Kitagawa at Tohoku University (Sendai, Japan; www.che.tohoku.ac.jp/~rpel/) has developed a continuous reactor for making biodiesel fuel from low-quality waste, such as cooking oil. Her production process uses an expanded-bed reactor packed with an anion-exchange resin that has both catalytic and adsorption capabilities. The...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/This-biodiesel-process-requires-no-pre-or-post-treatment_10442.html
May 1, 2013
A step closer to commercialization for a new green solvent
The Circa Group (Melbourne, Australia; www.circagroup.com.au) and the Green Chemistry Center of Excellence at the University of York (U.K.; www.york.ac.uk) have signed an agreement to develop and commercialize a novel “green” solvent called Cyrene. Cyrene is a polar aprotic solvent — a solvent that lacks an acidic hydrogen and has a high dielectric constant and a high dipole moment...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-step-closer-to-commercialization-for-a-new-green-solvent_10449.html
May 1, 2013
A waste-free monomer recovery process is licensed
Last month, Air Products (Allentown, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) announced that it has licensed its proprietary adsorption-based, monomer recovery process to custom process equipment supplier Cryo Technologies (Allentown, Pa.; www.cryotechnologies.com). The hybrid Air Products technology combines a partial condensation unit with a pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) process to recover unreacted ethylene and...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-waste-free-monomer-recovery-process-is-licensed_10453.html
April 1, 2013
Simplified CO2-to-methanol process uses copper-oxide nanowires
A process developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington (www.uta.edu) uses copper-based semiconductor nanoscale-rod arrays and solar radiation to carry out a photoelectroreduction of carbon dioxide to methanol. The process offers a pathway to utilize the greenhouse gas CO2 as a feedstock to synthesize a widely manufactured chemical...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Simplified-CO2-to-methanol-process-uses-copper-oxide-nanowires_10364.html
March 1, 2013
A renewable source for methane
Conventional methanation — the reaction of CO and H2 (synthesis gas) to form methane — has recently become important as a way to produce substitute natural gas (SNG) from gasified coal in regions of the world where natural gas is scarce (see Chem. Eng., August 2010, pp. 14–17). Now, an alternative methanation process, which produces CH4 directly from CO2 and H2, has been developed by...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-renewable-source-for-methane_10243.html
March 1, 2013
Replacing a pressurization blower with a turbocharger reduces energy use
Reductions in power consumption by over 30% have been observed at a full-scale formaldehyde production plant by introducing a new design in which a pressurization blower is replaced by a turbocharger that is powered by the exhaust gas from the emission control system (ECS). The plant using this design was developed by Perstorp Formox (Perstorp, Sweden; www.perstorpformox.com), in cooperation with MAN...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Replacing-a-pressurization-blower-with-a-turbocharger-reduces-energy-use_10257.html
February 1, 2013
New boiler fuels from oil, coal and biomass wastes
Composite liquid and slurry boiler fuels have been produced from mixtures of various waste materials, such as biomass, coal- and crude-oil-processing residues, wood and other combustible substances, in a collaboration between researchers at the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, R.I.) and Podgorny Institute (Kharkov, Ukraine). The researchers have formed a company, InEnergy LLC (Naples, Fla....
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/New-boiler-fuels-from-oil-coal-and-biomass-wastes_10169.html
February 1, 2013
A process for recovering rare-earth metals from magnet scrap
Researchers at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE) Ames Laboratory (Ames, Iowa; www.ameslab.gov) led by Ryan Ott have developed a process for recovering rare-earth (RE) metals from magnet scraps. The process involves first crushing neodymium-iron-boron magnet scraps and placing the pieces in a stainless steel crucible, to which chunks of magnesium metal are added. The apparatus is heated in a...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-process-for-recovering-rare-earth-metals-from-magnet-scrap_10170.html
January 1, 2013
Scale up planned for a new CO2-capture process
Plans are underway to field-test a process that removes more than 90 % of the carbon dioxide from power-plant flue gas, while reducing both the energy input and operating costs by 50 % compared to conventional amine-based CO2-scrubbing technology. The so-called carbonate-looping process has undergone four years of testing in a 1 MWth pilot plant at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Scale-up-planned-for-a-new-CO2-capture-process_10066.html
January 1, 2013
Membrane reactor may reduce wastage of natural gas
A small-scale ceramic membrane reactor to convert natural gas to transportable liquids in a single step is being developed by Ceramatec, Inc. (Salt Lake City, Utah; www.ceramatec.com) under a $1.7-million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA, Washington, D.C.; www.doe.gov). The goal is to monetize the...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Membrane-reactor-may-reduce-wastage-of-natural-gas_10067.html
January 1, 2013
This reactor will produce methanol directly from methane
Under an ARPA contract Gas Technology Institute (GTI, Des Plaines, Ill.; www.gastechnology.org) is developing a process to convert natural gas directly into methanol and hydrogen. The process is much simpler and more efficient than the...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/This-reactor-will-produce-methanol-directly-from-methane_10078.html
December 1, 2012
Scaleup for a microbial process that produces acetic acid from offgases
A demonstration plant for the production of acetic acid from the carbon dioxide in industrial offgases will be built at an operating plant of Petronas (Kuala Lumpur; www.petronas.com.my), Malaysia’s national oil company, under an agreement with LanzaTech (Roselle, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com), developer of the process. Scheduled for startup in late 2013, the plant will be similar in size to a...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Scaleup-for-a-microbial-process-that-produces-acetic-acid-from-offgases_9973.html
December 1, 2012
A new way to obtain hydrogen from heavy oil
The volume of heavy, sour crude oil processed by North American refineries is steadily increasing, and along with it a commensurate demand for hydrogen to upgrade that oil. A steam-reforming process that would allow refiners to produce their own H2 from heavy oil and residuum is being developed by TDA Research, Inc. (Wheat Ridge, Colo.; www.tda.com). Currently, refiners make a lot of their own hydrogen by...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-new-way-to-obtain-hydrogen-from-heavy-oil_9974.html
November 1, 2012
Demonstration for a process that makes H2 from sewage sludge
Japan Blue Energy Co. (JBEC; Tokyo, Japan; www.jpo-net.co.jp), Daiwa Lease Co., Toyota Tsusho Corp., and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. have established the Business Research Group of Hydrogen Innovation Town (BRG-HIT) to start verification tests for a new technology for making hydrogen from biomass and sewage sludge. Construction on the world’s first biomass-to-H2 plant began October 2011 at Idex Eco Energy...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Demonstration-for-a-process-that-makes-H2-from-sewage-sludge_9894.html
November 1, 2012
Catalytic ethane-cracking process allows lower-temperature operation
Aither Chemicals LLC (South Charleston, W.Va.; www.aitherchemicals.com) is planning to build a commercial-scale plant based on a catalytic ethane-cracking process that uses 80% less energy and generates 60% less carbon dioxide than conventional steam-cracking of ethane.  The company has refined a mixed metal-oxide catalyst that was originally developed by Union Carbide in the 1980s. The catalyst...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Catalytic-ethane-cracking-process-allows-lower-temperature-operation_9897.html
October 1, 2012
A concept for making gasoline from air
Air Fuel Synthesis Ltd. (AFS; Darlington, U.K.; www.airfuelsynthesis.com) has recently demonstrated a process for producing carbon-neutral liquid hydrocarbon (HC) fuel from air-captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The proof-of-concept demonstration facility, located at Teesside, England produces 5–10 L/d of liquid HCs. The next step of the company’s three-year (2012–2015)...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-concept-for-making-gasoline-from-air_9762.html
August 1, 2012
Coke oven offgases may help to increase steel production
Two dissimilar iron-making methods — a conventional blast furnace using coke from coal, and gas-based direct reduction of iron ore — are combined in a process being developed by Midrex Technologies, Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.; www.midrex.com) and Praxair Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com). Designed to use offgases from the coke-making operation in integrated steel mills, the process offers three...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Coke-oven-offgases-may-help-to-increase-steel-production_9522.html
August 1, 2012
A more-efficient Fischer-Tropsch reactor
The production rate (per amount of catalyst) for generating liquid hydrocarbons from syngas by the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) process, using a slurry reactor or tubular reactor, is generally limited to about 30% of the maximum rate. The restraining factor is heat removal from the highly exothermic reaction, says Steven Vallee, chemical applications engineer for Chart Energy & Chemicals Inc. (La Crosse...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/A-more-efficient-Fischer-Tropsch-reactor_9527.html
July 1, 2012
Algae-harvesting technique applied to produced water
Technology originally developed for dewatering algae has shown success in separating hydrocarbons from produced water that results from oil and gas drilling. The method could be used in treating produced water for onsite re-use as hydraulic fracturing fluid. To harvest oil from algae, OriginOil Inc. (Los Angeles, Calif.; www.originoil.com) developed an electroflocculation...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Algae-harvesting-technique-applied-to-produced-water_9443.html
May 1, 2012
Municipal solid waste is one feedstock for this bioethanol process
The technology surrounding a hydrolysis- and fermentation-based process that is capable of utilizing municipal solid waste (MSW) and biomass waste to produce cellulosic bioethanol at low cost is now available for licensing from its developer, TMO Renewables Ltd. (Guildford, U.K.; www.tmo-group.com). Several of the cost-saving measures depend on the capabilities of a heat-loving bacterium that has been...
http://www.che.com/chementator/process_technology/Municipal-solid-waste-is-one-feedstock-for-this-bioethanol-process_9294.html
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