Processing & Handling
Protect vacuum pumps from contamination with these traps
These vacuum inlet traps protect pumps across many applications, from laboratory settings to scalable production systems. The inlet vacuum traps feature user-selectable filter elements for removing the corrosive gases and abrasive particles created by processes that use volatile organic compounds…
Mass Transfer in Fermentation Scaleup
How big can a fermenter get? And what would the biggest fermenter look like? The answers to these questions depend upon how the requirements of heat transfer, mass transfer (gas-to-liquid), and momentum transfer (mixing) are met. In an earlier article…
Bio-isobutene fermentation process to be piloted
Construction is underway in France on a pilot plant for what is believed to be the first fermentation process capable of directly producing the light olefin isobutene. Global Bioenergies (Evry, France; www.global-bioenergies.com) expects to begin operations of a 500-L fermentation…
This pathway from cellulose to p-xylene eliminates saccharification step
A new chemical process is set to create bio-based p-xylene from cellulosic waste. Micromidas (West Sacramento, Calif.; www.micromidas.com) opened a pilot plant in December 2013 that converts cellulosic waste materials, such as rice hulls, switchgrass, sawdust and cardboard to bio-based…
A new spin on enzymatic reactions
A new process-intensification technology to accelerate the rate of enzymatic reactions has been developed by researchers from the Dept. of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath (U.K.; www.bath.ac.uk). The so-called spinning cloth disc reactor (SCDR) is based on, but extends the…
Commercial debut for a low-cost stationary energy-storage system
A novel battery chemistry that uses a water-based electrolyte has allowed developer Aquion Energy Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.aquionenergy.com) to achieve a low-cost and safe battery with long cycle life for stationary energy-storage applications. The Aquion battery technology, now entering its…
A new low-temperature shift catalyst passes longterm testing
A new water-gas shift catalyst has undergone 1,000 h of successful operation in a demonstration carried out by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO, Kawasaki; www.nedo.go.jp) and Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.hitachi.com). The tests were performed…
A sorption-enhanced catalyst improves CO2 methanation
Converting CO2 into methane is a way to mimic the natural carbon cycle and close the energy cycle by producing synthetic hydrocarbons (see, for example, CO2 Utilization, Chem. Eng., July 2013, pp. 16–19). However, the Sabatier reaction (CO2 + 4H2…
Mixing in the spotlight
Pressure to become more flexible and provide shorter cycle times have prompted chemical processors to examine their mixing operations to determine whether there is a way to increase process efficiency via mixing equipment. And, they just might be onto something,…
Perform leak tests without wasting helium
This company has developed helium recovery units that make it possible to recover and recycle the gas used in leak detection. The recovery of used helium is useful for meeting the environmental certification requirements under DIN EN ISO 14001 and…