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Processing & Handling

Pinch valve introduced to accommodate particulate flows

This week, Plast-O-Matic Valves, Inc. (Chem Show, New York; Booth 1018) debuts an all-thermoplastic, air-operated pinch valve with a newly designed sleeve element. With an open tubular-sleeve element to control flow, the Series HSA pinch valves provide an open flow…

Resodyn to Unveil ‘Entirely New’ Mixing Technology at Chem Show

The technology — now being demonstrated at the company’s booth with its lab-scale version (LabRAM) — generates acoustic waves via the resonant vibration of a simple, mechanically driven  agitator. At an 11:00 a.m. press conference today, Resodyn Acoustic Mixers Inc.…

Nanoholes improve the light absorption of TiO2

  The ability of titanium dioxide to absorb ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) solar radiation has been increased 25% by researchers at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton, NY; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6900-534). This could lead to improved…

Bio bulk chemicals

Metabolic Explorer (Metex; Clermont-Ferrand; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6900-535) and IFP (Rueil-Malmaison, both France; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6900-536) signed an agreement last month to accelerate the scaleup of Metex’s proprietary technology for producing 1,3-propanediol (PDO). The biological-based process uses glycerin — a byproduct of biodiesel production (CE,…

A new catalyst ligand promises to cut costs for making chiral compounds

Asahi Kasei Finechem Co. (Osaka, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6900-538) has commercialized a new type of catalyst for performing asymmetric oxidation reactions. The catalyst is based on ligands having the structure of a chiral-bis-hydroxamic acid (CBHA; diagram), which was first developed by Professor…

Capacity increase for carbon nanotubes  

Bayer MaterialScience AG (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6900-541) is opening a second production facility for Baytubes, its carbon nanotubes product, at H.C. Starck GmbH (Laufenburg, Germany). When combined with the existing pilot-production plant, the new, 30-m.t./yr facility will increase the site’s…

A new type of internally cooled reactor for selective synthesis

Rigorous temperature control is required for performing selective catalytic reactions, such as hydrogenation and oxidation (ethylene oxide production, for example), and in reactions where the chemical equilibrium is strongly temperature dependent (Claus sulfur recovery or the CO-shift reaction, for example).…

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Piping for Process Plants, Part 4: Codes and Fabrication

Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information   This fourth in a series of articles* on piping for process plants examines two topics that may, at first, seem to…

Increase Productivity Through Better Gas-Liquid Mixing  

    Mixing is one of the oldest unit operations in the chemical process industries (CPI) and can also be one of the most demanding. The complex challenges presented by the wide variety of mixing tasks and scaleup needs encountered…

Focus on Compressors, Fans & Blowers

    Move lots of potentially corrosive gas with this blower   Rotron CP regenerative blowers (photo) offer extremely high resistance to corrosion and chemicals encountered in chemical processing applications, such as vent-header offgassing, spot source, biogas or landfill gas,…