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Executive Insights: Wacker Chemical Corporation
In this exclusive interview, Christoph Kowitz, president and CEO of Wacker Chemical Corporation, offers his perspective on the goals, challenges and accomplishments of the company, as well as the challenges faced by the chemical process industries Christoph Kowitz is the…
First open process automation (OPA) control system at a commercial manufacturing facility
An ExxonMobil Corp. (Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) adhesive-resin finishing facility in Baton Rouge, La. has become the first commercial process-manufacturing facility to be controlled by an open, standards-based process automation system. This is a departure from the closed, proprietary systems currently…
Use these gas regulators in ultra-low-emissions applications
Type CG330 and CG340 gas regulators (photo) are specifically engineered to address the growing demand for low-emission solutions in industrial applications involving compressed gases, such as inert gases, natural gas and other sensitive media. CG330/CG340 regulators are designed to deliver…
UV-sterilized bioreactor could reduce costs for bioproducts
Capital intensity is among the current constraints on industrial-scale fermentation, because the hardware for steam sterilization of bioreactors is complex and expensive. After recently emerging from stealth status, the startup company Biosphere (Oakland, Calif.; www.biosphere.io) has launched a new reactor…
Plasma plays a part in cleaner ammonia production
Despite the abundance of nitrogen and hydrogen, industrial ammonia synthesis remains an energy-intensive process. Electrochemical methods have been suggested as potentially lower-energy alternatives to traditional ammonia synthesis, but these newer technologies often struggle with achieving key performance metrics. By integrating…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Mass Transfer: Absorption and Stripping
Absorption and stripping are important mass-transfer operations within the chemical process industries (CPI). This one-page reference provides some basic information on the principles and applications of stripping and absorption in industrial chemistry settings. General operation In absorption, a solute from…
Efficient cavitation-based method for challenging oil separations
Many separation processes depend on chemical or thermal principles, such as solvent extraction or distillation, but in some cases, mechanical methods can provide effective separations with lower cost and energy requirements. Eirex (Vaughan, Ont., Canada; www.eirex.ca) has developed a proprietary…
New screening method reveals microbial enzymes for breaking down PET
Breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into its constituent monomers under mild conditions is a key goal of plastics recycling. Knowledge of how many naturally occurring enzymes are capable of breaking down PET, and which would be most effective in industrial…
Recycling fiber-reinforced polymers with oxygen-free static thermolysis
A new thermolysis technology developed by Composite Recycling (Ecublens, Switzerland; www.composite-recycling.ch) breaks down fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) into their fundamental constituents, enabling reuse as valuable feedstock for the creation of new composite materials. “Past efforts to recycle composites have allowed waste…
Focus on: Performance Materials
These powders are designed for thermal spray applications This company’s WallCarb™ HVOF (high-velocity oxygen fuel) tungsten carbide powders are designed for thermal spray applications (photo) and are engineered to provide dense, hard coatings with exceptional wear and corrosion resistance. These…