Expanding demand for the use of fiber optics (FO) as a field data-transfer solution has led to this company’s introduction of a single-mode FO interface (photo) capable of supporting automation solutions with a range of up to 15 km between…
A group from the University of Canterbury (www.canterbury.ac.nz), and Industrial Research Ltd. (both Christchurch, New Zealand; www.irl.cri.nz), has produced hydrogen from ethanol via steam reforming in a non-thermal plasma reactor. The project is part of an Industrial Research concept called…
A team from the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang; www.eng.usm.my) has carried out a study for optimizing non-catalytic supercritical (SC) methanol extraction and transesterification of Jatropha curcas seeds to produce biodiesel fuel. Jatropha curcas is a species…
Gold catalysts have been shown to have superior activities for oxidation reactions, especially at low temperature, compared to other metal-based catalysts. But the high price of gold makes it necessary to develop Au catalysts with ever-higher activities, reducing the amount…
Venezuela’s state-run petroleum company, PDVSA Petroleo, S.A. (PDVSA, Caracas; www.pdvsa.com), will commercialize a company-developed process for upgrading heavy crude oil in its Puerto La Cruz refinery, about 300 km (190 miles) east of Caracas. The 210,000-bbl/d plant will employ PDVSA’s…
Construction of a demonstration plant has begun for a biomass-to-gasoline process that boosts biomass conversion efficiency in producing bio-gasoline. The demonstration, to be located at the Hillsborough, N.J. headquarters of Primus Green Energy (www.primusge.com), is slated for completion in the…
The S-Jet/V is the newest version of the S-Jet range of homogenizers, and was developed to handle a very large amount of solid input. By the changed geometry of the rotor/stator system and increased pumping power, the possible metering of…
A catalyst for making amides from alcohols and amines under aerobic conditions has been developed by Professor Shu Kobayashi and his research group at the University of Tokyo (Tokyo, www.chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/synorg/index_e.html). The catalyst — nano particles (2.4-nm dia.) of gold and…
Using an array of lamps inside a highly reflective chamber, the optical cavity furnace (OCF) takes advantage of photonics effects to help manufacture solar photovoltaic cells with higher efficiency than those made by conventional rapid-thermal-processing (RTP) methods. In addition, the…
The patented Earthing Bridge is now complimented with a new model — the Universal Earthing Bridge. The new version replaces the earthing cable traditionally used for electrostatic grounding of pipe systems. The bridge is fixed to the company’s pull-ring using…