The standard way to produce ethanol from agricultural waste involves acid hydrolysis to convert hemicellulose to glucose, which is then fermented to obtain ethanol. However, cellulose in the waste is not converted, so cellulase enzymes are generally used to hydrolyze…
In your energy efficiency programs, don't overlook air-pollution control and ventilation systems, which account for more than 25% of CPI energy consumption on average The cost to power fans and ventilators in the chemical process industries (CPI) is a significant…
A process that promises to improve the economics of ethanol production by coproducing a marketable adhesive is being developed by the USDA's Dairy Forage Research Center (Madison, Wis.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6896-534). Another benefit is that ethanol is made from cellulosic material in…
A scalable process for growing arrays of very-long, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), is being developed by researchers at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6896-537), in cooperation with FirstNano, a div. of CVC Equipment Corp. (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6896-538). The process uses…
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT; Atlanta; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6896-547) and Xiamen University (China) have produced a new form of platinum: 24-faceted nanocrystals whose catalytic activity per unit area can be as much as four times higher than existing commercial…
Last month, Metso Automation (Helsinki, Finland; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6896-550) launched the Neles RotaryGlobe control valve, which is said to combine the best features of linear- and rotary-valve technologies into a new design. The body of the valve has a one-piece, globe-valve style…
The highly diversified field of industrial electrochemistry includes processes to synthesize organic and inorganic compounds, the conversion and storage of energy, galvanic deposition of metals and alloys. Electrochemistry also plays a lead role in corrosion protection, sensor devices,…
A new catalyst for selectively oxidizing hydrogen into hydrogen peroxide has been developed by professor Tatsumi Ishihara at the Post-Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University (Fukuoka City, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-535). This one-step synthesis of H2O2 is expected to be more economical…
BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-548) and voestalpine Stahl GmbH (Linz, Austria; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-549) have developed a steel passivation compound that is free of chromium and fluoride. Launched at last month’s Hanover Fair (Germany), BASF’s Luglavan was developed for use in conversion…
Membranes that consist of a single layer of carbon atoms (called graphene) - the thinnest possible structure - have been created by researchers at Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (Stuttgart, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-532) and at the University of Manchester…