The Capitol SkyMine project in San Antonio, Tex. utilizes fluegas from an existing cement plant to manufacture salable chemicals while preventing the CO2 from reaching the atmosphere. Built by Skyonic Corp. (Austin, Tex.; www.skyonic.com), the project is said to be…
Division Radomiro Tomic of Codelco (Codelco Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile; Santiago; www.codelco.www) is adopting a bioleaching process to recover copper from low-grade ores. The process was developed by BioSigma S.A. — a joint venture (JV) of JX Nippon…
Last month, Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama; www.chiyoda-corp.com) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.mhi.com) received approval in principle (AIP) for a jointly developed floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility for the production of H2 and CO2 from associated…
A coating that can protect turbine-engine and waste-incinerator components against heat and oxidation has been developed by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT; Pfinztal, Germany; www.ict.fraunhofer.de). The coating consists of an outer topcoat made from hollow, aluminum-oxide…
A new range of sugar-based surfactants for skin- and hair-care products has been commercialized by Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com). Tradenamed GlucoTain, the surfactants are based on glucose and natural oils, and are said to offer enhanced sensory benefits without…
Since 2010, Kaneka Corp. (www.kaneka.co.jp) and Kansai University (both Osaka, Japan; www.kansai-u.ac.jp) have been collaborating on the development of special antifreeze materials for applications in the food industry. In 2012, the group developed an antifreeze based on a protein derived…
Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) have discovered that graphene-oxide sheets can change their structure and become liquid droplets spontaneously. Because graphene droplets change their structure in response to an applied magnetic field, they could be used for controlled…
Aiming to understand the nature of the synergistic effect of ultrasound and enzymes in the production of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass, researchers from the Institute of Chemical Technology (Mumbai, India; www.ictmumbai.edu.in) have studied the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis of waste…
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP; Saarbrücken, Germany; www.izfp.fraunhofer.de) have developed the so-called Magnus hybrid — an inspection system that combines micromagnetic and ultrasound techniques to characterize materials. The micromagnetic method helps determine hardness, tensile strength and…
A group at Texas A&M University (College Station, Tex.; www.tamu.edu) is developing a process that converts organic municipal solid waste (MSW) into straight-chain alkanes, a primary component in gasoline. The four-step process (diagram) begins with a proven industrial waste-sorting method…