Graphene surprise
Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) have discovered that graphene-oxide sheets can change their…
In The News
Chementator
Ultrasound enzyme hydrolysis
Aiming to understand the nature of the synergistic effect of ultrasound and enzymes in the…
High-strength steel checkup
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP; Saarbrücken, Germany; www.izfp.fraunhofer.de) have developed the…
Profitable potential for trash-to-liquids process
A group at Texas A&M University (College Station, Tex.; www.tamu.edu) is developing a process that…
Making renewable diesel and biopropane from vegetable oil
Before the end of 2016, Neste Oil Oyj’s (Espoo, Finland; www.nesteoil.com) refinery in Rotterdam, the…
Refinery project combines upgrading with EOR and CCS
Construction has begun on a unique refinery project that will convert Canadian bitumen into ultralow-sulfur…
Cut O2-production costs in half with this PSA technology
A high-temperature pressure-swing-absorption (HT-PSA) process that reduces energy consumption by up to 50% compared to…
Partnership targets bio-based building blocks from CO2
AkzoNobel N.V. (www.akzonobel.com) has partnered with Dutch start-up company Photanol (both Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.photanol.com)…
A waterless hydraulic-fracturing technique gets field-tested
A method for using liquid CO2, rather than water, as a hydraulic fracturing fluid has…
A new carrier for MBBR technology
Last month, Veolia Water Technologies (Birmingham, England; www.veoliawaterst.co.uk) introduced a new generation of biofilm carriers…
Slash energy costs with this new electrowinning anode
The research group of Masatsugu Morimitsu at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan; www.doshisha.ac.jp) has developed an…
November Chementator Briefs
Graphene continues to show new, promising properties Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au)…
‘Clean power’ demo
Last month, NET Power, LLC (Durham, N.C.; www.net-power.com) announced the completion of major project agreements…
Large-scale CCS
Last month, the first commercial-scale, post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) plant started up in…
Making nanoparticles
Scientists from the Materials Science and Technology Div. of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (Washington,…
Business News
Pöyry awarded contract for nickel emissions reduction project in Canada
Vale Canada Ltd. has awarded Pöyry (Montreal) Inc. (www.poyry.com) with the detailed engineering and construction…
BASF plans major investment in pioneering superabsorbent technology
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) today announced plans for a major investment in a pioneering…
Neste Jacobs to implement tall-oil-rosin production facility in Sweden
Neste Jacobs Oy (Porvoo, Finland; www.nestejacobs.com) and SunPine (www.sunpine.se) have signed an agreement for Neste…
ICL Industrial Products completes startup of polymeric-flame-retardant plant
ICL Industrial Products (ICL IP; Tel Aviv, Israel), a segment of ICL (www.icl-group.com) says that…
Neste Jacobs to implement Norilsk Nickel LNG station in Finland
Technology, engineering and project management company Neste Jacobs Oy (Porvoo, Finland; www.nestejacobs.com) will perform Project…
Huineng SNG plant goes on-stream
Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) today announced that Huineng, a large-scale substitute natural gas…
Outotec to modernize BCL nickel smelter in Botswana
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been awarded a contract by BCL Ltd. for modernizing…
Praxair signs longterm contract for H2 supply in Peru
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has signed a longterm contract to provide hydrogen to Repsol,…
Total Energy Ventures acquires an interest in Aquion Energy
Total Energy Ventures, the venture capital arm of Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com), is investing…
MHPS receives order for DeNOx system for power plant in Spain
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS; Yokohama Japan; www.mpshq.com), received an order from Hidroelectrica del Cantabrico,…
KBR awarded FEED services contract butadiene expansion project in Saudi Arabia
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Saudi…
Praxair to further expand New Mexico nitrogen facilities
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) says it will further expand liquid and gaseous nitrogen supply…
Vertellus acquires Pentagon Chemicals
Vertellus (Indianapolis, Ind.; www.vertellus.com), a leading producer of pyridine and pyridine derivative chemicals, today announced…
KBR signs acetic-acid-technology alliance with Chiyoda
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has signed an agreement with Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.chiyoda-corp.com/en), a…
CPI Workforce: Filling The Gaps
An increasingly tight labor market for engineers in the chemical process industries (CPI) is pushing…
Kemira inaugurates its largest water-treatment chemicals plant; and more business news
PLANT WATCH Kemira inaugurates its largest water-treatment chemicals plant October 9, 2014 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki;…
Technical & Practical
Bulk Solids: Operating Direct-Contact Heat Exchangers
Bulk solids are frequently used as reactants, catalysts or products in chemical process industries (CPI)…
Design of Experiments (DoE): Optimizing Products and Processes Efficiently
Experiments are done to quantify cause-and-effect relationships between adjustable parameters (inputs, factors, x) and the…
Critical Connections Demand Certainty
Figure 1. During tightening, hydraulic pressure load within a bolt should be uniformly and accurately…
D,L-methionine production via the carbonate process
Methionine is an essential amino acid that is not synthesized by animals, so it must…
Burner Inspection and Maintenance
Burners are mechanical devices that are utilized for mixing proper quantities of fuel and air,…
Facts at Your Fingertips
November Letters Facts at Your Fingertips: Forces Acting on a Gasket
This letter is in reference to the article, Forces Acting on a Gasket [ Chem.…
Wire Meshes in Filtration
Fabricated metal-wire mesh is one of the major categories of filter media. Woven metal cloths…