On the heels of its successful scaleup of bio-butanol, Cobalt is looking for pathways to use that molecule as a building block for other products. The company has announced plans to build the first bio-butadiene plant in Asia. Projected to…
Freestanding nanowires exhibit ultrahigh elastic-strain limits (of up to 7%) and yield strengths. However, it has been difficult to exploit their properties in bulk composites, due to the mismatch between the elasticity of the nanowires and the elasticity of the…
Squalane, an emollient used in cosmetics, will be the first product of a biotechnology pilot plant now being started up by Nucelis Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.nucelis.com), a spin-off from Cibus (also of San Diego). The plant will use Cibus’…
Seiko PMC Corp. (Tokyo; www.seikopmc.co.jp) has installed a pilot plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at its Ryugasaki Factory, and will begin shipping samples next spring with the aim of commercial activities in 2015. In collaboration with professor…
Ceramic paper A paper-like material made from vanadium-pentoxide ceramic that is as hard as copper and can be folded or rolled up has been produced by scientists at Stuttgart University (www.uni-stuttgart.de), the Max-Planck Institute (MPI) for Intelligent Systems (www.is.mpg.de)…
Selecting air-pollution control equipment can be tricky. It’s not only difficult to determine which pollutants must be controlled, but also which type of equipment will best control them to required levels for any given process or facility because there is…
What is said to be the world’s first commercial alkylation plant to use a solid acid catalyst is scheduled for startup early next year by Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical Group Co. (Zibo, China). The plant, which will produce 100,000 ton/yr of…
The temperature and moisture level of the air being drawn into the front end of ammonia, nitrogen, nitric acid or other plant air compressors directly impacts the yield from the process, and chilling is a way to debottleneck air production…
A demonstration plant in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, will produce hydrochloric acid and iron pellets from the iron-chloride leach liquor generated by the production of synthetic rutile, the common mineral form of titanium dioxide. The plant will utilize a…
Nippon Paper Industries Co. (Nippon Paper; Tokyo; www.nipponpapergroup.com) is constructing a verification plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at the Chemical Div. of its Iwakuni Mill. Scheduled to start up in October, the facility will have a production…