Double-effect coating Researchers at the Leibniz-Instutut für Neue Materialien GmbH (INM; Saarbrücken, Germany; www.inm-gmbh.de) have developed a nanocomposite coating that simultaneously protects against corrosion while having lubrication properties similar to grease and oil. The new material is suitable for coating…
Researches at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; www.ornl.gov) are developing a process that makes carbon fibers with customized surface contours from polyethylene-based fibers. The patent-pending technique uses a combination of fiber-spinning and…
The technology surrounding a hydrolysis- and fermentation-based process that is capable of utilizing municipal solid waste (MSW) and biomass waste to produce cellulosic bioethanol at low cost is now available for licensing from its developer, TMO Renewables Ltd. (Guildford, U.K.;…
A novel cold-dry process makes possible the utilization of fine form-factor silicon, such as granules and sand-like fines, in the production of high-purity polysilicon for solar photovoltaic cells and semiconductors, where such fine-grained material would normally have to be sent…
Recovery boilers, in which pulp and paper companies burn spent black liquor from the kraft pulping process to recover and recycle sodium and sulfur, are a bottleneck in many paper mills. The reason is that they operate at their upper…
A new catalyst that converts H2 and CO2 into formic acid under mild conditions has been developed by researchers at the Solar Light Energy Conversion Group of Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST;…
A process to make polylactic acid (PLA) that requires no solvent or metal catalyst has been developed by Ricoh Co. (Ricoh; Tokyo, www.ricoh.com), in cooperation with Shizuoka University. Ricoh’s continuous PLA process is based on a commercially available organic catalyst…
A six-stage water treatment process involving electrocoagulation (EC) and multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation could improve options for the disposal of sludge and brine in applications that include the treatment of water from hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells (see…
Construction of a 1-hectare (ha) carbon-capture and recycling “synthesizer” demonstration plant has started at Tarong Power Station near the town of Nanango in southeast Queensland, Australia. Tarong Power Station comprises four coal-fired units with a gross generating capacity of 1,400…
Biobutanol milestones Last month, Cobalt Technologies (Cobalt; Mountain View, Calif.; www.cobalttech.com) announced two achievements toward commercial-scale production of bio-based n -butanol: the demonstration of its biomass pretreatment process, and the demonstration of its advanced-strain fermentation process. In cooperation with…