Mobile Navigation

Processing & Handling

Member Exclusive

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…

Member Exclusive

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…

Member Exclusive

Using sunlight to incorporate CO2 into alpha-amino ketones

The research group of Masahiro Murakami at Kyoto University (Kyoto, Japan; www.sbchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp/murakami-lab) have synthesized a promising pharmaceutical precursor using only sunlight (as energy source) and CO2 (as co-reagent). The solar-driven process involves two consecutive reactions (diagram): first, light transforms an…

A dosing unit for microliter volumes

The new micro dosing unit Type 7615 is a high-precision diaphragm pump for exact dosing in the microliter range. Comprised of three valves, the dosing unit doses 5 µL in one stroke with an accuracy of ±2%. The maximum flowrate…

Handle acids and caustics with this non-metallic drum pump

The portable, non-metallic Flex-I-Liner rotary peristaltic pump evacuates drums and totes containing acids, caustics, salts, chlorides and reagent-grade chemicals without corrosion of the pump or contamination of the fluid. The self-priming design of the Flex-I-Liner has no seals to leak…

Member Exclusive

A starch-based cationic polymer for oil recovery

Cationic polymers have been used in the petroleum industry as shale-control agents, demulsifiers, blocking agents, and filtrate reducers for drilling fluids, but process complexity and high cost have limited their application. Now researchers from Zhejiang Normal University (Jinhua; www.zjnu.edu.cn) and…

Member Exclusive

A highly active catalyst for making NH3

The research groups of Hideo Hosono and Michikazu Hara at the Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology (TiTech; Yokohama, Japan; www.msl.titech.ac.jp) have developed a high-performance catalyst for the synthesis of ammonia. In the laboratory, the catalyst is found…

Member Exclusive

A photocatalyst for destroying viruses

Meanwhile, professor Kazuhito Hashimoto at the University of Tokyo (Japan; www.light.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp) has developed new photocatalyst materials based on copper-titanium oxide, which exhibits superior antiviral effectiveness and enhanced antibacterial properties compared to existing systems. Developed with support from NEDO, this new…

Member Exclusive

A patented process produces battery-grade lithium

Lithium producer Galaxy Resources Ltd. (Perth, Western Australia; www.galaxylithium.com) says that lithium carbonate product from its wholly owned Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant has achieved battery grade quality using the company’s patented process (flowsheet). The Jiangsu plant is located in the…

Member Exclusive

CPI Machinery: Commissioning, Startup and Piping

When it comes to rotating machinery (pumps, compressors, gas turbines, steam turbines, turbo-expanders, and others) operating in the chemical process industries (CPI), installation, piping, support, pre-commissioning, commissioning and startup play crucial roles. Machinery maintenance and repair can be quite costly,…