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Perfluorinated compounds may pose a risk to firefighters

Perfluorinated compounds — firefighting foams — such as perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOS) have been used as fire suppressants, but some of them, such as perfluoroalkyl acids have been associated with serious environmental contamination. Also, several new fluorinated surfactants have been developed…

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CO2 capture

Chemists from Rice University (Houston; www.rice.edu) are developing an asphalt-based powder that holds 114% of its weight in CO2. The porous material, known as asphalt-porous carbon (A-PC) captures CO2 as it leaves a natural-gas wellhead at room temperature and at…

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Cr(VI)-FREE COATINGS

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…

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METAL-FREE ATRP

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…

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BIO SNG PILOT

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…

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Reducing ground-level O3

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…

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Making biocrude and nutrients from algae

The hydrothermal liquefaction of algae has been the subject of many studies because algae exhibit high photosynthetic activity and growth rate compared to other biomass, leading to increased CO2 absorption. The algae can grow in a wide variety of water…

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Isothermal compression gets practical

Mechanical engineering students have been taught that true isothermal compression, while ideal from an energy-efficiency perspective, is not achievable. However, a late 1800s technology, the Taylor Compressor has delivered isothermal compression in large industrial applications for nearly a century. The…

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Synthesizing adipic acid without generating N2O

Adipic acid, a precursor for the synthesis of nylon, is usually produced through nitric acid oxidation of cyclohexane, a process which has disadvantages, such as the emission of nitrous oxide — a greenhouse and ozone-depleting gas — as well as…

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Electrode design increases efficiency of suspended-solids removal

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…