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Processing & Handling

An integrated thermochemical process makes advanced biofuels from biomass

Bionext and its partners — a consortium of six industrial companies — have successfully completed the test program on BioTfueL demonstration units, setting the stage for commercialization of the thermochemical process that makes low-carbon-footprint sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other…

Electrochemistry Spreads its Wings

New electrochemical processes are being developed to help CPI companies reduce their carbon footprint For over a century, electrochemistry has played a crucial role in the chemical process industries (CPI), and many chemicals are still produced using traditional electrochemical processes,…

Technology Profile: Production of Adipic Acid

Adipic acid (hexanedioic acid; Figure 1) is among the most important aliphatic dicarboxylic acids, with about 2.5 billion kg produced annually. It is isolated as odorless, colorless crystals with an acidic taste. Adipic acid undergoes the reactions of carboxylic acids,…

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Sieve Tray Stability Factor Based on Efficiency Data

Using a vast collection of experimental distillation-column data, sieve tray stability, and its influence on efficiency, are explored in terms of several physical and mechanical properties For trayed distillation columns, the concept of tray stability was introduced by the author…

Considerations for Solid Catalyst Loading

Special considerations must be made for loading expensive solid catalyst materials into fixed-bed and tubular reactors Most units in the chemical process industries (CPI) use complex and expensive heterogeneous catalysts aimed at improving reaction performance. Although sometimes overlooked, the solids-handling…

Low-energy hydrogenation without H2 gas

Hydrogenation is an important reaction in many sectors of the chemical process industries (CPI), but H2 gas is not only expensive, its use requires considerable safety measures to prevent explosions. Significant cost savings could be achieved if hydrogenations did not…

Chementator briefs

Toxicology testing The world’s first toxicology-testing strategy without animal testing has been approved by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; Paris, France; www.oecd.org). The testing strategy consists of three so-called alternative methods. They can be used to predict…

Piloting a process that makes hydrogen and carbon from methane

Next year, construction will begin on an industrial-scale pilot plant to further develop a new process that decomposes methane into H2 and carbon. The process uses a thermo-catalytic decomposition (TCD) technology developed by Hycamite TCD Technologies Oy (Kokkola, Finland; www.hycamite.com).…

Technology Profile: Production of Nitrogen from Air

Nitrogen (N2) makes up 78% of ambient air (20.95% of air is oxygen). N2 is an inert (non-flammable) gas used in industrial plants to prevent undesirable chemical reactions from occurring. Nitrogen is the most common inert gas used in the…

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Time and Length Scales of Mixing: The Macro Scale

Successfully scaling up a mixing process involves understanding several important timescale parameters that can impact chemical reactions and equipment performance Many industrial processes are defined by rates. For example, rates of mass and heat transfer, rates of reaction and rates…