Latest News: Technologies
New injector technology fundamentally improves combustion flexibility
Conventional combustors that employ air-blast and pressure-swirl injection technologies are very sensitive to fuel properties, especially viscosity, limiting their ability to utilize certain classes of fuels and blends, including bio-based fuels. The new swirl-burst (SB) fuel-injector technology developed at Baylor…
Upgrading organic wastewater into fuel feedstocks
Although wastewater streams with high organic content — such as those from breweries and dairy facilities — can be difficult to treat and expensive to dispose of, there is potential to valorize their carbon content with the right process. Based…
A nearly universal electrolyte chemistry for safer, longer-lasting batteries
The electrolytes used in nearly all lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries are carbonate-based, which makes them flammable and prone to degradation mechanisms, including side reactions, which can result in gas evolution and the formation of undesirable chemicals like hydrogen fluoride. A…
Process for electrolytically converting CO2 to carbon materials to be scaled up
With a recent round of investment funding, UP Catalyst (Tallinn, Estonia; www.upcatalyst.com) plans to build a pilot plant for a process that converts waste carbon dioxide into a range of solid carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes, (CNTs), graphite and…
“Frugal” method adsorbs and destroys PFAS with photocatalyst
Removing per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) from surface and groundwater has become an environmental and public health imperative, but methods for doing so are often complicated and costly, and may not destroy the molecules. Researchers at the University of British…
A low-cost method for bio-based production of acrylic acid
Acrylic acid, a commodity chemical used widely in superabsorbent polymers, paints, coatings, adhesives and more, is typically produced from fossil-based propylene at relatively high temperatures. As part of an initiative supported by the U.S. Dept. of Defense, funding was recently…
Chementator Briefs – Technology News for Nov. 2024
Electrifying industrial heat Calectra (Oakland, Calif.; www.calectra.com) has received $1.6 million in pre-seed funding and $400,000 in grant funding from the U.S. Government and New York State to support its work on decarbonizing industrial process heat. Heavy industrial processes, like…
New method lowers energy required for production of cellulose nanofibers
Because of their excellent mechanical properties, light weight and biodegradability, cellulose nanofibers (CNF) are attractive materials for next-generation reinforced biomaterials and bioplastics. However, the method for separating cellulose to make CNF, known as fibrillation, is energy-intensive, which limits applications for…
Destroy PFAS while also producing syngas
The destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) presents unique issues in wastewater treatment, as these substances are persistent in many treatment environments, and PFAS-laden purification media is challenging to dispose of. Now, InEnTec Inc. (Richland, Wash.; www.inentec.com) says that…
A non-toxic co-solvent makes batteries safer and more efficient
The solvent N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) has been used to coat anodes and cathodes in lithium-ion batteries, but it has been shown to be a reproductive toxin, necessitating controlled handling and recycling within a closed system, which adds complexity and cost to…