Latest News: Technologies
Knowledge-based approach to catalyst development
Petroleum-derived ethylene normally contains traces of acetylene, which interferes with the conversion of ethylene into polyethylene (PE). Because it is difficult to separate it, the acetylene is selectively hydrogenated to ethylene — without subsequent hydrogenation to ethane — using a…
Making synthetic rubber from biomass
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (www.ajinomoto.com) and Bridgestone Corp. (Both Tokyo, Japan; www.bridgestone.com) have jointly developed a bio-based, high- cis-polyisoprene synthetic rubber. The two companies began an R&D cooperation in June 2011 to combine their know-how — Ajinomoto’s state-of-the-art fermentation technologies for…
Detecting sub-50-nm particles in ultrapure water
A new particle-size measurement technique has been developed and used to evaluate filter retention efficiency for particles with an average diameter of 12 nm by C.T. Associates Inc. (Eden Prairie, Minn.; www.ctassociatesinc.com) and W.L. Gore and Associates (Newark, Del.; www.gore.com).…
August Chementator Briefs
A new electrolysis cell At Achema 2012, ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany; www.uhde.eu) introduced a new generation of its single-element electrolysis cell, Generation 6, which offers improved energy consumption and increased active-membrane area. These improvements are due to an…
Development Speeds up In Catalysis
There might be as many categories of catalysts as there are chemical processing applications. And, no matter what the specialty or application, most catalyst producers are in a constant state of research and development in order to meet the demands…
Algae-harvesting technique applied to produced water
Technology originally developed for dewatering algae has shown success in separating hydrocarbons from produced water that results from oil and gas drilling. The method could be used in treating produced water for onsite re-use as hydraulic fracturing fluid. To harvest…
July Chementator Briefs
ADN production Nylon-polymer producer Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) has developed new technology for the production of adiponitrile (ADN), a key ingredient for nylon 6,6. The advances, which came as a result of $40 million of R&D spending, can improve…
A step closer to replacing platinum in catalytic converters
The research group of Masaru Ogura, an associate professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo (www.u-tokyo.ac.jp), has clarified the degradation mechanism and the role potassium carbonate plays in the catalyst systems used for reducing soot from the…
The quest for a more-efficient gas-fired power generator
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) will begin developing basic technologies for a triple combined-cycle power-generation system that integrates solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation system. Under the umbrella of the…
A compact thermal storage system
Theres a growing trend toward generating electricity from biogas (see pp. 15–17), but roughly half of the total energy content of the fuel is released as heat, which is dissipated into the atmosphere unused. To improve the overall efficiency, researchers…