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Chemical Engineering

Backwash Tuning for Reliable Sand Filtration

This practical guide provides information on proven backwash-tuning techniques that will improve the reliability and robustness of sand filters in water treatment applications Water is a fundamental part of virtually all plants in the chemical process industries (CPI). Examples of…

Fibrous catalyst support boosts yields and reduces coke buildup

A new fibrous catalyst-support material can enhance a wide range of industrial catalytic reactions, allowing higher yields and reduced coke buildup compared to pellet supports. Unifrax (Tonawanda, N.Y.; www.unifrax.com) leveraged its expertise in ceramic materials to develop the high-alumina fiber…

Solar-powered water extraction from atmospheric air

A first-of-its-kind pilot project in Abu Dhabi is integrating large-scale atmospheric water generation (AWG) with solar-thermal energy storage to enable carbon-free production of water. Led by partners AQUOVUM LLC (Dover, Del.; www.aqvglobal.com), Masdar Clean Energy (www.masdar.ae) and Khalifa University of…

Increasing recovery of metals from refractory mine tailings

EnviroGold Global Ltd. (Toronto, Ont., Canada; www.envirogoldglobal.com) has filed a patent application for a proprietary electrochemical process designed to achieve advanced metal recoveries from refractory ores with reduced capital expenditures (capex) compared to industry standard solutions. “The residual metals contained…

An integrated thermochemical process makes advanced biofuels from biomass

Bionext and its partners — a consortium of six industrial companies — have successfully completed the test program on BioTfueL demonstration units, setting the stage for commercialization of the thermochemical process that makes low-carbon-footprint sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other…

Chementator briefs [September 2021]

Automated synthesis One of the most modern infrastructures for automated process control in chemistry is being built by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; www.kit.edu) together with BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com). The facility will initially produce new substances in…

Electrochemistry Spreads its Wings

New electrochemical processes are being developed to help CPI companies reduce their carbon footprint For over a century, electrochemistry has played a crucial role in the chemical process industries (CPI), and many chemicals are still produced using traditional electrochemical processes,…

Orion Engineered Carbons to construct new carbon-black plant in China

Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. (Luxembourg) constructing its second plant in China for specialty and high-performance carbon black, expanding the chemical company’s production capacity in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. Carbon black, available as powder or beads, is commonly used…

Arkema acquires Ashland’s Performance Adhesives business for $1.65 billion

Arkema S.A. (Colombes, France) signed an agreement related to the acquisition of Ashland Global Holdings Inc.’s (Wilmington, Del.) Performance Adhesives business, a first-class leader in high performance adhesives for industrial applications in the United States with a unique and innovative…

Nouryon to build new ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose plant in Southeast Asia

Nouryon (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) plans to build a new production facility to meet the increasing global demand for innovative and sustainable additives for the rapidly growing Paints and Coatings end-market and other high-growth end-markets. The new facility will be situated…