Latest News
Honeywell introduces HIVE for IT infrastructure
Honeywell (Morris Plains, N.J.; www.honeywell.com) today announced the release of Experion PKS IT Highly Integrated Virtual Environment (HIVE), a transformative new technology that centralizes up to 80% of IT infrastructure used in project engineering. This allows industrial manufacturers to lower…
Indorama starts up ethylene cracker in Louisiana
Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (IVL; Bangkok, Thailand; www.indoramaventures.com) has announced the commercial startup of its olefins gas cracker plant at Indorama Ventures Olefins LLC(IVOL) in Westlake, Louisiana. The site has an ethylene production capacity of 440,000 metric tons per…
Velocys selects Worley as engineering partner
Sustainable fuels company Velocys plc (Oxford, U.K.; www.velocys.com) announced the appointment of Worley (North Sydney, Australis; www.worley.com) to manage the delivery of its fully integrated technology package. Worley is now the partner in the development of pre-feasibility, feasibility and FEED…
Lanxess working to increase disinfectant supply for coronavirus prevention
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has announced that it is working to increase supply of its high-level disinfectant Rely+On Virkon, which is thought to be effective against the coronavirus. The product is used for hard surface and equipment disinfection. Anneliese…
Reduce the humidity and make some electricity on the side
Researchers at the Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore (www.nus.edu.sg), led by professor Swee Ching Tan, have combined a moisture-absorbent gel with light-active materials to develop a humidity “digester” that dries ambient air while generating energy.…
Findings suggest new design principle for water-splitting catalysts
Hydrogen derived from water and renewable electricity, rather than from natural gas, could offer abundant energy without carbon dioxide emissions if water-splitting processes could be scaled up effectively. But the best catalyst for the reaction — platinum — is scarce…
Membrane bioreactors improve the production of lignocellulosic-ethanol
Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are widely used in wastewater treatment plants because they intensify the biotreatment process, reduce the number of processing stages, retain the biocatalyst and help remove the product from the suspended solids. In order to take advantage of…
Scaling up diamond growth for high-tech applications
A team of scientists in Kentucky are working to harness the unique material properties of diamonds — hardness, thermal conductivity, electrical resistivity and more — for advanced industrial applications, including biosensors and high-frequency and high-power devices. Kentucky Advanced Materials Manufacturing…
A direct route to adipic acid esters
Adipate diesters are building blocks of polyamides and polyesters, and are used in plasticizers, perfumes, lubricants, solvents, various pharmaceutical active ingredients and, in terms of quantity, mainly for the production of nylon. Currently, adipate diesters are produced industrially by oxidizing…
Making Cybersecurity Training a Priority
All critical infrastructure segments are at risk for cyberattacks, but the unique integration of the chemical manufacturing sector into the global supply chain makes it an especially ripe target Defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), critical infrastructure…