Seiko PMC Corp. (Tokyo; www.seikopmc.co.jp) has installed a pilot plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at its Ryugasaki Factory, and will begin shipping samples next spring with the aim of commercial activities in 2015. In collaboration with professor…
What is said to be the world’s first commercial alkylation plant to use a solid acid catalyst is scheduled for startup early next year by Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical Group Co. (Zibo, China). The plant, which will produce 100,000 ton/yr of…
A demonstration plant in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, will produce hydrochloric acid and iron pellets from the iron-chloride leach liquor generated by the production of synthetic rutile, the common mineral form of titanium dioxide. The plant will utilize a…
Nippon Paper Industries Co. (Nippon Paper; Tokyo; www.nipponpapergroup.com) is constructing a verification plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at the Chemical Div. of its Iwakuni Mill. Scheduled to start up in October, the facility will have a production…
The Circa Group (Melbourne, Australia; www.circagroup.com.au) and the Green Chemistry Center of Excellence at the University of York (U.K.; www.york.ac.uk) have signed an agreement to develop and commercialize a novel “green” solvent called Cyrene. Cyrene is a polar aprotic solvent…
Although several antimicrobial hydrogels have been developed in recent years, they all have one or more drawbacks, such as possible toxicity, insufficient stability and biodegradability, and high costs. These and other drawbacks have been overcome with a synthetic hydrogel being…
Last month, Air Products (Allentown, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) announced that it has licensed its proprietary adsorption-based, monomer recovery process to custom process equipment supplier Cryo Technologies (Allentown, Pa.; www.cryotechnologies.com). The hybrid Air Products technology combines a partial condensation unit with a…
Silverson Machines A laboratory mixer that supplies data for scaleup The L5 Series laboratory mixers are suitable for R&D, quality analysis and standard laboratory work. The mixers have a capacity range from 1 mL up to 12 L, and are…
Minimizing process variability is an important component of a plant’s profitability. The performance of control valves within process control loops has a significant impact on maintaining consistent processes. This refresher outlines some of the important aspects of control-valve performance, including…
Polypropylene (PP) is one of the world’s most widely used polymers, second only to polyethylene in terms of global demand. The global market for polypropylene is over 60 million metric tons per year, and it is utilized in a…