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Show Preview: Chem Show 2019

From October 22–24, professionals from all sectors of the chemical process industries (CPI) will meet in New York City for the 2019 Chem Show (www.chemshow.com). With over 275 exhibitors, Chem Show’s exhibit hall will feature demonstrations of new process equipment…

Addressing water scarcity

The threat of water scarcity may not be a top concern for those who have readily available freshwater to meet their daily needs. But for about two billion people who currently live in areas experiencing high water stress and the…

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Integrated e-waste processing facility nears completion

Although it contains many valuable metals, electronic waste (e-waste) is an exceedingly difficult material stream to process, and the vast majority of e-waste is not recycled. EnviroLeach Technologies Inc. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.enviroleach.com) is currently preparing to start up a first-of-its-kind…

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This multifunctional photocatalyst splits water with visible light

Oxysulfide semiconductors have narrow bandgaps — a property that makes them suitable photocatalysts for water splitting under irradiation with visible light (640 nm wavelength). That’s because the electronegative sulfide ions negatively shift the valence band edges of the corresponding oxides.…

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The outlook for hydrogen as an energy carrier

Many countries are now making rapid advances in hydrogen energy technologies and strategy, and the rest of the world has much to learn from their experience, according to a new report — Advancing Hydrogen — compiled by a team from…

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These magnetic ‘nanosprings’ decompose microplastics

Microplastics — a subgroup of plastics with an effective diameter less than 5 mm — are ubiquitous pollutants. They adsorb organic and metal pollutants that are ingested by aquatic organisms, and accumulated all the way up the food chain. Using…

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New research solves debate over water-gas shift reaction mechanism

The water-gas shift reaction (WGS; in which water vapor is reacted with carbon monoxide over a copper-chromium-iron-oxide catalyst to yield hydrogen and CO2) is of paramount importance to the chemical industry, as it is a primary route to producing H2…

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New oxocatalyst demonstrated for vinyl chloride monomer production

Recently, Tosoh Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.tosoh.com) has applied a new, proprietary oxocatalyst in the oxychlorination process for making ethylene dichloride (EDC) from ethylene, HCl, and O2 in its vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) manufacturing process. The performance boost anticipated from simulation…

Commercial debut for an upgrading process

After four years of project development and execution, the new PolyFuel unit at Petrobrazi petroleum refinery in Romania has been started-up and is fully functional since April 2019. Based on the PolyFuel technology licensed by Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net), the…

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A less expensive way to make graphene

A team from RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia; www.rmit.edu.au) and the National Institute of Technology, Warangal (Warangal, India; www.nitw.ac.in) has developed a cost-effective and eco-friendly way of producing graphene using a eucalyptus polyphenol solution extracted from eucalyptus bark. RMIT’s professor Suresh…