Chemical Engineering
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical to build new production facility for ophthalmic lens monomers
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. (MGC; Tokyo) has announced new capacity investment at the ophthalmic lens monomer IURESIN plant in Yokkaichi Plant (Yokkaichi City, Mie, Japan) and the sales launch of a bio-based lens monomer which is produced in the existing…
AGC Biologics to build one of Japan’s largest biomanufacturing sites in Yokohama
AGC Biologics Inc. (Bothell, Wash.) announced plans to construct a new manufacturing facility at AGC Inc.’s Yokohama Technical Center in Japan. The new site is a part of the company's strategic growth strategy to create more high-quality pharmaceutical development and…
Metso to build ferrochrome plant for FACOR in India
Metso Corp. (Espoo, Finland) and Ferro Alloys Corp. Ltd. (FACOR), part of Vedanta, have agreed on the design and delivery of a ferrochrome plant for FACOR’s expansion project in Bhadrak, Odisha, in India. The contract value of approximately EUR 80…
A continuous electrochemical process for direct-air CO2 removal
Direct-air capture (DAC) of atmospheric carbon dioxide presents promise for helping to reach global-warming reduction goals. However, many DAC technologies are hindered by high costs and inefficiency. RepAir Carbon (Yokne-am Illit, Israel; www.repair-carbon.com) recently launched a field prototype of its…
Sand-based thermal-energy storage
Using concentrated solar thermal (CST) energy to supply industrial-heating requirements is a promising way to reduce the use of fossil fuels. This is the aim of Magaldi Green Energy (Rome, Italy; www.magaldigreenenergy.com), which developed its Solar Thermo Electric Magaldi (STEM)…
Converting a steel mill to climate-neutral steel production
To decarbonize steel production and its high carbon dioxide emissions, Fraunhofer researchers, TS Elino GmbH (Dürren; www.elino.de) and Salzgitter AG (all Germany; www.salzgitter-ag.com) are working on converting an existing steel mill to climate-neutral production methods. The aim is to produce…
Chementator Briefs
CO2 to CO SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology, an R&D organization of SK Innovation Co. Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.skinnovation.com), has successfully manufactured about 1 kg/d of CO using diatomic catalyst (DAC) technology, which selectively converts CO2…
Converting natural gas to alcohols using MOFs
Capturing natural gas from petroleum drilling wells is economically challenging, but would have positive environmental impacts because it would eliminate the need for flaring and could allow the hydrocarbons to be converted into useful chemicals. Now, research led by chemists…
Direct molten-salt electroplating cuts battery costs
The extremely high material purity demanded for conventional lithium-ion battery manufacturing creates considerable costs for transporting and refining lithium and other raw materials. Through the development of a single-step electroplating process that uses lower-purity raw materials and a nanostructured-foam electrode…
First commercial DAC facility in the U.S. captures CO2 for concrete
In November 2023, Heirloom Carbon Technologies (Tracy, Calif.; www.heirloomcarbon.com) unveiled the United States’ first commercial direct air capture (DAC) facility, which can capture up to 1,000 ton/yr of CO2. The process first uses renewable energy to remove CO2 from limestone…