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Processing & Handling

A three-way valve for diverting flows

Rather than using two, two-way automated valves to control the flow of liquids, a single three-way valve does the job with fewer components and lower costs. The PTP Series is a group of three-way PVC ball valves that protect piping…

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A car company moves closer to making cellulosic ethanol ecomomically

Using gene recombination technology, Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC; Toyota City, Japan: www2.toyota.co.jp/en) has developed a new strain of yeast that achieves one of the highest ethanol-fermentation density levels in the world — approximately 47 g/L with 87% yield (based on…

A process pump with a water-cooled head option

The N0150 diaphragm pumps can now be customized with water-cooled heads to prevent pump overheating in process applications where exothermic reactions can produce excessive heat and potentially shorten pump service life. Capable of serving a range of industries, the pumps…

This high-speed disperser handles viscosities up to 50,000 cP

d fsbgsd High-speed dispersers from this company are suitable for most straightforward powder wet-out applications with fluid viscosities up to 50,000 cP. The units, which can be built to mix vessels up to 6,000 gal or larger, are constructed with…

Use this booster to help valve positioners

Incorporating a fixed deadband, internal soft seats and an integral bypass restriction, the VBL pneumatic volume booster has an enhanced performance capability that is important in applications where a valve positioner alone cannot provide the stroking speed needed to meet…

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Making formic acid by artificial photosynthesis

For the first time, an organic compound has been synthesized from water, carbon dioxide and sunlight — without any other external energy or reagents. The achievement, which was demonstrated by researchers at Toyota Central Research and Development Laboratories, Inc. (Toyota…

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World’s highest-purity lithium plant announces commercial launch

A facility that produces high-purity lithium carbonate for use in the growing market for electrolytes in electric-vehicle batteries has begun commercial operations in Imperial Valley, Calif. The 500-ton/yr plant, operated by Simbol Materials (Pleasanton, Calif.; www.simbolmaterials.com), is the only producer…

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Supercritical water process converts biomass to sugars

Sugar is a critical feedstock for many emerging bio-based-chemical and biofuel processes, but harvesting sugar from low-value, nonfood biomass cost-effectively and at large scale remains a challenge. Renmatix Inc. (King of Prussia, Pa.; www.renmatix.com) has developed a process that uses…

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A new catalyst for asymmetric-transfer-hydrogenation reactions

The Fine Chemicals div. of Takasago International Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.takasago.com) has commercialized Deneb: Oxo-Tethered Ruthenium (II) Complex, which shows higher catalytic activities compared to conventional RuCl (arene)(N-sulfonylated diamine) catalyst systems. The higher activity enables a reduction in catalyst loading…

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New catalyst allows lower-temperature waste destruction

Base-catalyzed decomposition (BCD) is a commercially used process developed in the early 1990s by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, D.C.) for the destruction of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It has been used as an alternative to incineration for…