Latest News: Technologies
Direct fermentation to produce propylene
Global Bioenergies (Evry, France; www.global-bioenergies.com) says that last month it developed a proprietary strain of microorganism that directly produces propylene by the fermentation of glucose. The company claims this is the first time propylene has been produced entirely by a…
Biodegradable drilling lubricant garners positive field results
An encapsulated, biodegradable drilling-fluid additive designed to reduce friction on drill bits and piping inside oil wells has been demonstrated successfully in more than 30 wells across North America following its launch in mid-2014. The lubricant product, known as Encapso,…
A one-step, phosgene-free route to urethane
Researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technologys (AIST) Interdisciplinary Research Center for Catalytic Chemistry (Tsukuba, Japan; www.aist.go.jp) have developed a new reaction process to synthesize aromatic urethane — a promising starting material for the production of…
Modular hydrogen-production technology uses modified SMR process
A modular, skid-mounted hydrogen-production plant developed by Linde AG (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) uses a modified version of conventional steam-methane reforming (SMR) to generate hydrogen from inexpensive natural gas, rather than relying on more costly methods of hydrogen production, such as…
Polymer produced from CO2 waste gas makes commercial debut
For the first time, polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyol, a versatile polymer made from CO2, is available at a commercial scale. Produced by Novomer Inc.’s (Waltham, Mass.; www.novomer.com) polymerization process, PPC polyol has been adopted into a formulation for polyurethane hot-melt…
CO2-capture project is largest to use calcium-looping technology
A cement plant in Taiwan has been retrofitted with the largest CO2-capture plant to use calcium-looping technology to date. The project, run by Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; Hsinchu, Taiwan; www.itri.org), demonstrates ITRI’s high-efficiency calcium-looping technology (Heclot) at a…
This new material repels oil and water
Meanwhile, a new class of highly fluorinated polymers is being developed at the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; Karlsruhe, Germany; www.kit.edu) that repels both water and oil. Last month, IMT was awarded €2.85 million funding…
H2 and CO2 from APG
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…
Coating for extremes
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…
Sweet surfactants
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…