Processing & Handling
thyssenkrupp to install 200-MW ‘green’ hydrogen facility for Shell in port of Rotterdam
Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers GmbH, Dortmund, Germany has signed a supply contract with Shell for the large-scale project ‘Hydrogen Holland I’ in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Under the contract, thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers will engineer, procure and fabricate…
Layered catalyst selectively generates two-carbon compounds from CO2
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…
Bifunctional catalyst enables economically viable production of bio-based acrylates
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…
Commercial production of glucaric acid from sugar substrate
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…
Bulk polymerization of elemental sulfur yields new flame-retardant plastics
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…
Technology Profile: Production of Ethylene from Ethane
Ethylene is used almost exclusively as a building block — it is the largest-volume petrochemical produced worldwide (Figure 1). Production of ethylene grew rapidly in the middle of the 20th century, when oil and chemical companies began separating it from…
Process Commercialization: The 2021 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award
To honor the efforts of those chemical engineers and their companies that have successfully commercialized a new process for the first time, Chemical Engineering magazine has been be-stowing its Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award since 1933. The aim of the…
The Importance of Steam Quality for Steam-System Process Operation
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…
Cummins and Sinopec launch JV to produce ‘green’ hydrogen technologies in China
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…
thyssenkrupp signs contract to install over 2-GW electrolysis plant for Air Products in NEOM
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…