Membranes are widely used in a variety of industrial separation processes, but the polymeric materials that make up many membranes are not durable enough to handle extreme conditions, such as processes with low pH or hazardous-metal content. Membrion, Inc. (Seattle,…
NanoTech Materials Inc. (Houston; www.nanotechmaterials.com) is expanding its commercial partnerships for the use the company’s Insulative Ceramic Particle (ICP) technology, which can be used in fireproof coatings, as well as in a range of applications for roof coatings that lower…
RO Membranes Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toray.com) has developed a highly durable reverse osmosis (RO) membrane that is said to offer double the resistance to cleaning chemicals of conventional counterparts. This reduces performance degradation from membrane wear and simplifies…
Hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers will be crucial technologies as the global energy transition progresses. However, both devices are often hampered by issues with durability and material costs — mainly associated with their membrane elements — which have slowed their…
Trends related to the energy transition are shifting global demand for refined products and affecting feedstock slates, forcing petroleum refiners to embrace adaptation and flexibility Demand for fossil fuels has remained strong in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, but…
Hydrogen chloride is an important byproduct of the chemical industry, with over 9-million ton/yr generated by industrial chlorination processes, such as the production of chloromethanes and polymers (polyurethanes and polycarbonates). Although HCl can be easily recovered by gas scrubbing with…
Performance improvements in robotics technologies for manufacturing and energy operations are leading to greater productivity, cost savings and safety improvements In the chemical process industries (CPI), mobile robots, often in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), are…
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt (www.uni-frankfurt.de) and Kiel University (both Germany; www.uni-kiel.de) have developed a new sensor for the detection of bacteria. It is based on a chip with a surface coating that ensures only very specific microorganisms, such as…
Nanocellular graphene (NCG) is a specialized form of graphene that achieves a large specific surface area by stacking multiple layers of graphene and controlling its internal structure with a nanoscale cellular morphology. Although the material has the potential to improve…
Researchers at Lund University (Sweden; www.lth.se) have succeeded in converting worn-out cotton sheets into new viscose fibers using a process that — for the first time — enables all of the viscose to be recycled. Current recycling methods often require…