Pressure vessels are common in the chemical process industries (CPI) and they range widely in size and complexity. Process engineers may be tasked with inspecting a new pressure vessel or with witnessing hydrostatic testing of a vessel. In addition, engineers…
A new process for producing monoethylene glycol (MEG) from synthesis-gas-based feedstocks is nearing completion of extensive pilot plant operation, according to developers Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com) and Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.davyprotech.com). The technology enables…
Low-grade nickel (less than 1.5 wt.%) laterite ores represent about 70% of global reserves but account for only 40% of nickel production. Increasing demand for nickel in recent years has created the need to process such ores. Atmospheric acid leaching…
Pilot plant operation has been completed for a process that produces the fertilizer potassium sulfate from the mineral polyhalite, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, magnesium and calcium. The process, developed by Intercontinental Potash Corp. (ICP; Golden, Colo.; www.icpotash.com), resurrects a…
The National Food Research Institute (NFRI) of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO; Tsukuba City, Japan; www.naro.affrc.go.jp) has developed an enzymatic pretreatment process for producing highly concentrated sugar solution from fibrous materials containing rice straw and starch. The…
A research team from the University of Western Australia (Perth; www.uwa.edu.au), led by professor Dongke Zhang, has pioneered the application of higher plants for new-generation biofuel production. Metabolic engineering of Arabidopsis thaliana — a small flowering plant native to Europe…
CUI — that acronym should be enough to capture your attention. All chemical process industries (CPI) plants are aging — and some are aged, especially in the U.S. and Europe. Corrosion under insulation (CUI) should be regarded as a silent…
Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU; Canberra; www.anu.edu.au), and the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia; www.unsw.edu.au) claim to have obtained a temperature- and frequency-independent colossal permittivity (CP) material with a low dielectric loss, making it strikingly superior…
Short-chain hydrocarbons have been produced for the first time by microbial fermentation by a research team from the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST; Daejeon, South Korea, www.kaist.ac.kr), led by…
Daiki Axis Co. (Matsuyama City, Japan; www.daiki-axis.com) has developed a new solid catalyst for biodiesel fuel production under the support of New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) under the authority of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry…