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Processing & Handling

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…

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…

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,…

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Ceramic ferrules

Blasch Precision Ceramics (Albany, N.Y.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-548) has commercialized one-piece hex-head ferrules made of 99.6% alumina for applications in steam-methane reformers. The high-purity alumina is becoming popular as an alternative to high-grade metal alloys because it is virtually immune to chemical…

‘Nanowire’ membranes for use in harsh environments

Technology for producing nanowires from titanium dioxide, and for fabricating the wires into free-standing membranes and other shapes, is being offered for sale by Intellectual Property Partners LLC (IP2; Atlanta, Ga.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-540). The membranes are chemically inert and thermally stable…

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Bending polymers imitate the beauty of nature

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Racah Institute of Physics (Israel; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-539) have succeeded in programming polymer sheets to bend and wrinkle by themselves into prescribed structures, such as domes, saddles and sombrero shapes (photo). Their work, described in…

Outlets for glycerin

    Glycerin has over 1,500 known end uses, including applications in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food products, with the U.S. market alone demanding around 600-million lb/yr. But over the next two years, biodiesel plants are expected to produce an additional…

A vapor-phase glycerin-to-PG process slated for its commercial debut

Davy Process Technology Ltd. (DPT; London; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-531), a Johnson Matthey company, has received the first license of its new glycerin-to-propylene glycol (GTPG) process. The first project, planned for the Ashland/Cargill joint venture (CE, June, p. 10), will produce more than…