Chemical Engineering
Upcycled steel byproduct sequesters phosphorus and sulfur in wastewater digesters
To inhibit fouling and H2S formation, chemicals like ferric chloride, ferric sulfate and aluminum sulfate are often used to reduce the concentration of phosphorus and sulfur in digesters at wastewater treatment facilities. While effective at isolating sulfides and phosphates, these…
Microbial technology is turning end-of-life oilfields into hydrogen-producing bioreactors
Subsurface sources are an area of emerging interest for producing low-carbon hydrogen. A microbiology-forward approach to subsurface hydrogen production developed by Eclipse Energy (Houston; www.eclipseenergy.co) is designed to recover hydrogen from depleted oil reservoirs. The RenovaStrata TM technology is centered…
Editor’s Page: Hazardous Waste Management
Hazardous waste management is often discussed in the context of environmental and public health impact, and rightly so; those areas are important. But recently, an interesting report took a look at hazardous waste management from a different angle: its impact…
Business News: November 2026
Plant Watch MOL Group opens first biomethane plant in Szarvas, Hungary October 14, 2026 — MOL Group Plc. (Budapest, Hungary; molgroup.info) inaugurated its first biomethane plant in Szarvas, Hungary. As a result of the investment of more than HUF 2.7…
How AI-Powered Visual Inspection is Reframing Industrial Hygiene
From PPE compliance to spill detection and dust accumulation, smart inspection and monitoring systems are giving real-time visibility into industrial hygiene hazards that manual inspections routinely miss Many use cases for industrial artificial intelligence (AI) have been documented in recent…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Key Considerations for Control-Valve Specification
Control valves ensure safe and efficient operation of process plants by regulating the fluid flow in connected pipes. This one-page reference outlines key considerations for specifying control valves during the design phase of a plant. Valve sizing. The size of…
Downcomer Backup Flooding: In Search of the Truth
Correctly identifying flood mechanisms that limit throughput in a distillation column is central to maximizing capacity and debottlenecking. Guidelines for diagnosing the mechanism are described in Ref. 1. This column recounts a case of downcomer backup flooding. Backup from frothy…
Biomanufacturing at Scale: Separating Feasibility from Commercial Viability
Physical scalability in fermentation was established decades ago. The decisions that determine whether a bioprocess for making a specialty chemical becomes a profitable one are made earlier, and they focus on deployment execution and commercial position of the product Ask…
Functionalized mixed-metal oxide is ‘anti-aging’ antidote for battery cathodes
A new metal-oxide additive technology is taking a different approach to extend battery performance and lifecycle. Developed by Ten-Nine Technologies (Tulsa, Okla.; www.ten-ninetech.com), the TENIX nanoscale additive formulation features specialized surface chemistry that selectively intervenes in key battery-degradation pathways that…
The Scale-up Gap in Bio-based Materials
Successful pilot operations are a necessary first step, but for bio-based processes, getting a product plant-ready requires navigating the gap between research environments and industrial plant settings A successful pilot batch has a way of changing the mood in a…