Often, operational problems in steam systems are misattributed because the system’s steam quality is not closely monitored. A clear understanding of steam quality can help to better address these issues Steam quality describes the proportion of saturated steam (vapor) in…
Copper-catalyzed electrochemical reduction offers a path for making valuable chemicals, such as ethanol or ethylene, from CO2. However, selectively generating sufficient yields of two-carbon products requires precise manipulation of the microenvironment near the surface to control reaction activity and product…
The prospects for a bio-based route to acrylates (diagram) received a significant boost recently, when startup company Låkril Technologies Corp. (Chicago, Ill.; www.lakril.com) licensed technology from the laboratory of Paul Dauenhauer at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.; twin-cities.umn.edu). Dauenhauer…
The synthetic biology company Kalion Inc. (Milton, Mass.; www.kalioninc.com) recently completed its first commercial-scale production run of high-purity (98–99%) glucaric acid via fermentation of glucose at a custom-manufacturing facility owned by Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com). The high purities…
A group of researchers from the University of Arizona (Tucson; www.arizona.edu), led by chemistry and biochemistry professor Jeff Pyun, are aiming to make use of sulfur waste streams from petroleum refineries. To meet environmental regulations, sulfur must be removed from…
Cummins Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.) and China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group) announced the formation of a 50:50 joint venture (JV) — Cummins Enze (Guangdong) Hydrogen Technology Co., Ltd (Cummins Enze). The JV will accelerate the affordability and availability of green hydrogen…
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.) has awarded thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers GmbH (Dortmund, Germany) a contract to supply a more than 2-GW electrolysis plant for one of the world’s largest green hydrogen projects at NEOM in Saudi Arabia. Under this…
Chevron Lummus Global LLC (CLG; Richmond, Calif.) and Saudi Aramco (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; www.aramco.com) have signed a Joint Collaboration and License Agreement to co-develop and license Saudi Aramco's Heavy Oil Processing Initiative (HOPI+) technology. HOPI+ aims to achieve relatively higher…
Commissioning has begun on a pilot plant designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a structured catalyst module for steam-methane reforming (SMR) that solves the main heat-transfer inefficiencies associated with the conventional process. The structured catalyst technology improves the efficiency of…
A collaboration between Clariant Catalysts (Munich, Germany; www.clariant.com/catalysts) and Technip Energies N.V. (Zoetermeer, the Netherlands; www.technipenergies.com) has led to steam-methane reforming (SMR) SMR technology that is said to achieve higher throughput and heat recovery in SMR. Technip Energies’ Enhanced Annular…