Direct conversion of cellulose to HMF demonstrated
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pln.gov) have published the first direct…
In The News
Chementator
A new support for biofilters
Researchers from the Environmental Biotechnology Cooperative Research Center (Sydney and Perth, Australia; www.ebcrc.com.au) have developed…
Using gold to catalyze oxidation reactions
Polymer-supported nanoclusters of gold have recently been shown to catalyze the oxidation of alcohols to…
Scaleup is set for an air-separation membrane
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI, Palo Alto, Calif.; www.epri.com) has signed an agreement with…
A less-expensive way to make platinum catalysts
The cost of producing platinum catalysts could be reduced by up to 90% by a…
Extracting drinking water from humidity
An energy-autonomous process for capturing air humidity for drinking water has been developed by scientists…
This photocatalyst works with visible light
A photocatalyst that uses visible light to deodorize and disinfect air has been developed by…
A gypsum-free, energy-saving route to lactic acid
Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany; www.uhde.biz) is developing a new process for producing lactic acid (LA)…
Making solar panels even greener
Last month, Malibu GmbH & Co, KG (Bielefeld, Germany; www.malibu-solar.de) started up a thin-film photovoltaic-module…
The missing piece for wireless process control
Last month, Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS; Phoenix, Ariz.; www.honeywell.com/ps) unveiled the process industry’s first redundant…
New catalyst boosts liquid-fuel yield from heavy hydrocarbons
A new zeolite catalyst that increases yields of light cycle oil (LCO) from high molecular…
Business News
DSM to sell urea-licensing business to Maire Tecnimont
Royal DSM N.V. (Heerlen, Netherlands; www.dsm.com) and Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.it) announce today…
BASF extends joint R&D program with IMEC
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and IMEC (Leuven, Belgium; www2.imec.be), Europe's leading independent nanoelectronics research…
GEA builds automatic dairy plant in Chile
The Process Technology Segment of GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com) has received an order…
Agilent acquires Varian for $1.5 billion
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.; www.agilent.com) and Varian, Inc. (Palo Alto, Calif.; www.varianinc.com) have…
Altana acquires Water Ink Technologies
The specialty chemicals Group Altana AG (Wesel, Germany; www.altana.com) has entered into an agreement to…
Nikkiso acquires Lewa
Lewa GmbH (Leonberg, Germany; www.lewa.de) has been acquired by the Japanese company Nikkiso Co., Ltd.…
GEA to build cooling tower in Florida
GEA Power Cooling Inc. (Lakewood, Colo.; www.geaict.com), a subsidiary of GEA Group (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com),…
Clean power from Africa
Along with other industrial companies, Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany; www.siemens.com/energy) is participating in the Desertec…
Chinese government approves expansion in Nanjing
The Chinese central government has approved the Joint Feasibility Study Report submitted by BASF and…
Alfa Laval wins big orders from Petrobras
Alfa Laval (Lund, Sweden; www.alfalaval.com) has received two orders for Alfa Laval Packinox heat exchangers…
Rhodia enters into biogas market
Rhodia (Paris; www.rhodia.com) today announces its first business development investment in biogas technology, by acquiring…
Lanxess kicks off new R&D collaboration for rubber
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has officially launched a new multilateral collaboration to develop a…
Linde wins $1-billion contract for ethane cracker
Borouge (Abu Dhabi; www.borouge.com), a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, has awarded…
Topsøe contracts the world's largest ammonia plant
Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) will supply ammonia synthesis technology for the world’s largest…
Teijin transfers 50% ownership in NatureWorks back to Cargill
Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo; www.teijin.co.jp) announced today that it had transferred its 50% ownership in NatureWorks…
BASF to close Styropor plant at Tarragona; and more
Plant Watch PET resin capacity expands in Saudi Arabia June 15, 2009 — Uhde Inventa-Fischer…
Technical & Practical
The Shotgun Approach: Removal of Fouling Deposits on Heat Transfer Surfaces in Coal-Fired Process Heaters & Boilers
The heat transfer sufaces of coal-fired process heaters and boilers often undergo severe fouling. If…
Disperse Difficult Solids
Despite the immense value and universal appeal of these additives for product designers, process engineers…
Revamps: Strategies for A Smooth Turnaround
Tie-in opportunities are few and far between. These rules of thumb will help make sure…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Flowmeter Selection
When a flowmeter is needed, the selection process should include studying the characteristics of respective…