Last month, Southwest Research Institute (SWRI; San Antonio, Tex.; www.swri.org) was awarded $1.5 million by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA; Arlington, Va.; www.darpa.mil) for a three-year project to develop alternative technologies for depositing thin films. The project is…
A typical fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) generates about 200 tons/d of dry gas — a mixture of off-gases that is burned as refinery fuel. However, about 40 tons of that gas is ethylene, which would have much greater value…
Anti-hydrolysis agent Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.teijin.co.jp) has developed a new carbodiimide anti-hydrolysis agent that is said to exhibit “superior” anti-hydrolysis properties to improve the durability of plastics. The agent has the additional advantage of not emitting isocyanate gas,…
JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (JX_NOE; Tokyo, Japan; www.noe.jx-group.co.jp) has demonstrated enhanced propylene and butenes yields by its high-severity, fluid-catalytic cracking (HS-FCC) technology. In a 3,000-bbl/d semi-commercial plant, which has been operating at the company’s Mizushima Refinery since May…
New technology developed for air-operated, double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps can reduce consumption of compressed air by up to 60% without electronic components, while maintaining the same flowrates. The reduced air consumption translates directly to lower energy usage. Developed by Wilden Pump…
Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing; www.cas.ac.cn) have found a way to transform polyurethane (PU) foam into a sponge that is strongly water-repellent and oil-absorbing, making it suitable for soaking up chemicals and petroleum from spills. One of…
Japanese researchers from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO; Kawasaki City; www.nedo.go.jp), Waseda University, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (JX_NOE) and five other companies along with five more universities have developed an inorganic membrane that enables…
Technology originally developed for harvesting oil from algae has now been applied to sanitize water and remove ammonia from commercial aquaculture ponds. Electro Water Separation (EWS) technology, developed by OriginOil Technologies (Los Angeles, Calif.; www.originoil.com), applies pulses of tuned electromagnetic…
Sapphire Energy, Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.sapphireenergy.com) and The Linde Group (Munich; www.linde.com) have signed an agreement, with a minimum span of five years, to commercialize Sapphire’s process for producing crude oil from algae. The agreement expands an existing partnership…
CSIRO Minerals Down Under Flagship (Perth, Western Australia; www.csiro.au/MDU) has developed a method that uses hydrotalcite formation to simultaneously remove contaminants from mining and industrial wastewaters in a single step. Current wastewater-treatment processes typically produce lime-based slurries, often with large…