Chemical Engineering
Successful pilot study of wastewater reuse technology at commercial site
A pilot project evaluating the Electro-Ceramic Desalination (ECD) technology developed by Membrion Inc. (Seattle, Wash.; www.membrion.com) successfully recovered clean water from the reject water of a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process at a commercial manufacturing site. Membrion’s technology uses ceramic…
A more economical process for bio-succinic acid piloted
Bio-based succinic acid has been explored as a renewable building-block for a host of chemicals and polymers, but its production process remains costly due largely to the complicated purification process that generates a large waste stream. Now, researchers at the…
Upcycling gypsum to sulfuric acid in a zero-liquid-discharge demonstration plant
A new demonstration plant is upcycling gypsum (calcium sulfate) — a material that is typically challenging to dispose of — at a metal-refining site using a process that combines salt-splitting electrolysis, caustic direct-air capture (DAC) and mineralization. Travertine Technologies, Inc.…
Catalyst developed for conversion of CH4 to methanol
Scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, N.Y.; www.bnl.gov) and collaborating institutions have engineered a highly selective catalyst that can convert methane into methanol in a one-step reaction. The system could help make better use of “stranded” natural gas…
New injector technology fundamentally improves combustion flexibility
Conventional combustors that employ air-blast and pressure-swirl injection technologies are very sensitive to fuel properties, especially viscosity, limiting their ability to utilize certain classes of fuels and blends, including bio-based fuels. The new swirl-burst (SB) fuel-injector technology developed at Baylor…
Upgrading organic wastewater into fuel feedstocks
Although wastewater streams with high organic content — such as those from breweries and dairy facilities — can be difficult to treat and expensive to dispose of, there is potential to valorize their carbon content with the right process. Based…
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies completes expansion at manufacturing site in California
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biologics, vaccines, advanced therapies, and oncolytic viruses, announced the completion of an expansion of its cell-therapy manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks, California. The event also celebrated the recent European…
Honeywell to sell PPE business for $1.3 billion
Honeywell International, Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) announced that it has agreed to sell its Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) business to Protective Industrial Products, Inc. (PIP), a portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners, for $1.325 billion in an all-cash transaction. The transaction…
KBR to supply technology for new ammonia plant in Angola
KBR, Inc. (Houston) announced that it has signed an agreement with AMUFERT for the development of a new ammonia plant in Soyo, Angola. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide a technology license, proprietary engineering design, equipment and…
Solvay inaugurates second biomass boiler at Rheinberg soda ash and bicarbonate plant
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium) announces the official inauguration of the second biomass boiler at its Rheinberg soda ash and bicarbonate plant in Germany, phasing out the use of thermal coal for energy use at the site. With the commissioning of…