Oji Paper Co. (OJI; www.ojipaper.co.jp), in collaboration with Nippon Steel Engineering Co. (www.nsc-eng.co.jp) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; all Tokyo, Japan; www.aist.go.jp), has started pilot testing of a new, integrated process for making cellulose-based…
A reduction of CO2 emissions of 50% can be achieved in steelmaking, using renewable carbon from biomass, according to The Australian Steel Industry CO2 Breakthrough Program, an R&D program conducted by a team from: BlueScope Steel Research (Port Kembla, New…
A team from the School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang; www.eng.usm.my) has carried out a study for optimizing non-catalytic supercritical (SC) methanol extraction and transesterification of Jatropha curcas seeds to produce biodiesel fuel. Jatropha curcas is a species…
To date, determination of the shear forces exerted on vessel walls by moving fluids has required inferring the value from other measurements. Now Lenterra Inc. (Newark, N.J.; www.lenterra.com) has introduced the first instrument capable of direct measurement of wall-shear forces…
The Brinkman method is one of several approaches used to predict the effective viscosity of oil-water mixtures, and is effective in simulations when one or the other phase is dominant. However, a significant level of uncertainty exists in mixtures where…
New cellulase enzyme Last month, Codexis, Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.; www.codexis.com) introduced the CodeXyme Cellulase enzyme product line for converting biomass to sugar. The company is in its final stages of customizing the enzymes with currrent partners, and plans…
Gold catalysts have been shown to have superior activities for oxidation reactions, especially at low temperature, compared to other metal-based catalysts. But the high price of gold makes it necessary to develop Au catalysts with ever-higher activities, reducing the amount…
Venezuela’s state-run petroleum company, PDVSA Petroleo, S.A. (PDVSA, Caracas; www.pdvsa.com), will commercialize a company-developed process for upgrading heavy crude oil in its Puerto La Cruz refinery, about 300 km (190 miles) east of Caracas. The 210,000-bbl/d plant will employ PDVSA’s…
Construction of a demonstration plant has begun for a biomass-to-gasoline process that boosts biomass conversion efficiency in producing bio-gasoline. The demonstration, to be located at the Hillsborough, N.J. headquarters of Primus Green Energy (www.primusge.com), is slated for completion in the…
A new distillation system capable of reducing energy consumption by up to 50% compared to conventional columns has been developed by Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, www.toyo-eng.co.jp), in collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST;…