Praxair Surface Technologies, a division of Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com), has recently introduced a new line of ceramic aluminum coatings that are said to have the same performance as legacy chromium (VI)-containing coatings. The company’s SermeTel CF and SermaLoy…
Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is a relatively new process to form carbon-carbon bonds of well-defined polymers. Since its discovery in 1995, ATRP has been performed using transition-metal complexes, such as those of copper. This feature has limited the application…
Construction has been completed on a trailer-mounted pilot plant that will produce substitute natural gas (SNG) from the products of biomass gasification (H2, CO2 and CO). Built by researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; www.kit.edu) as part of…
A specially designed electrode could improve the efficiency of removing suspended solids, oil or other contaminants from water in applications traditionally served by dissolved-air flotation (DAF). Developers at OriginOil Inc. (Los Angeles, Calif.; www.originoil.com) believe their electrolysis process overcomes limitations…
At the European Coatings Show (April 21–23; Nuremberg, Germany), Bayer MaterialScience AG (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; www.materialscience.bayer.com) will launch Pentamethylene diisocyanate (PDI), a new isocyanate with 70% of its carbon content originating from biomass. The eco-friendly hardner component is being evaluated…
Researchers at Toshiba Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toshiba.co.jp) have developed an artificial photosynthesis system that uses solar energy to convert CO2 and water into CO with 1.5% efficiency — the highest efficiency achieved to date. The company believes the technology has…
The research group of Keiichi Tomishige at Tohoku University (Sendai, www.che.tohoku.ac.jp/~erec), in collaboration with Daicel Corp. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.daicel.com/en), has developed a catalytic reaction system that is highly efficient for synthesizing tetrahydrofuran (THF) — a widely used solvent and…
In hydraulic fracturing, high-pressure pumps force water bearing sand or ceramic proppants into a manifold, known as a missile, and subsequently into an oil or gas well. Exposure to the highly abrasive, proppant-filled fluids means the pumps require frequent maintenance…
A new low-pressure xylenes-production process combines toluene with methanol to yield a xylenes product stream with the possibility of no benzene byproduct. Known as GT-TolAlk and developed by GTC Technology (Houston; www.gtctech.com), the new process requires no hydrogen addition and…
The Catalyst Div. of BASF (Iselin, N.J.; www.basf.com) has launched PremAir NXT, a next-generation direct ozone reduction (DOR) catalytic coating technology that can help automakers meet new U.S. Tier 3 and California LEV III emissions reduction requirements. When applied to…