Chemical Engineering
Plant Watch: October 2024
Plant Watch SK Energy to start commercial production of SAF September 16, 2024 — SK Energy, a subsidiary of SK Innovation Co. (Seoul, South Korea; www.skinnovation.com), announced the completion of South Korea’s first dedicated production line for sustainable aviation fuel…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Industrial Electrolysis
Industrial electrolysis involves passing a direct electric current through an electrolyte to elicit a range of chemical reactions. Electrolyzers are key pieces of technology for producing many important industrial chemicals. This one-page reference reviews the basic general operation of an…
Lithium Landscape: Activity is Charging Forward in the U.S.
Across several regions of the U.S., new lithium projects are emerging to build up a more localized supply chain Despite growing demand in the U.S. for batteries in consumer electronics and electric vehicles (EV), the vast majority of lithium extraction…
Controlling Process Variables for Solid-State Battery Performance
Optimizing electrical conductivity in next-generation batteries depends on carefully controlling process variables, such as mixing, particle-size distribution and temperature. Presented here is a discussion of how these process variables affect battery performance In the evolving landscape of energy storage technologies,…
Automation Optimizes Rinsewater Recycling
Onsite recycling proved cost-effective for an aerospace supplier. With real-time feedback and control, a new automation upgrade takes process efficiency to the next level Throughout the chemical process industries (CPI), efficient and affordable approaches to wastewater treatment are of paramount…
Advancing battery technologies
Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, www.energy.gov) announced that two Energy Innovation Hub teams would receive a total of $125 million ($62.5 million to each team) in funding over five years to “seed and accelerate next-generation technologies beyond…
Chementator Briefs
Tire recycling The Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG; Tokyo, Japan; www.mcgc.com) has demonstrated chemical recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) using the coke ovens at its Kagawa Plant (Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture). The company is able to feed crushed ELTs as raw…
Scaleup underway for super-efficient silver refining
A significant contributor to the cost, energy consumption and carbon footprint of silver production is in the refining steps to remove, recover and recycle zinc from Parkes Crust silver-zinc intermetallic compounds. A fundamental redesign of the silver process to improve…
Fujifilm to invest in Japan to expand semiconductor materials business
Fujifilm Corp. (Tokyo) announced an investment of 20 billion yen in its semiconductor materials business to further strengthen its facilities for the development, production and quality evaluation of advanced semiconductor materials in Shizuoka and Oita, Japan. The total amount of…
Gevo acquires Cultivate Agricultural Intelligence for $6 million
Gevo, Inc. (Englewood, Colo.) has acquired Cultivate Agricultural Intelligence, LLC (CultivateAI) for $6 million in cash, with the opportunity for the sellers to receive additional earn-out payments. Gevo will fold CultivateAI into its wholly owned Verity subsidiary to accelerate Verity’s…