Latest News
Adapting thin-film polymers for membrane separation of liquid hydrocarbons
Thin-film polymer membranes have been very effective for industrial-scale desalination of seawater, but have not been used for separation of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures because oil-separation membranes tend to absorb oil components and swell, which eliminates their size-sieving ability to separate…
Business News: July 2025
Plant Watch Tosoh to construct new chloroprene rubber plant in Japan June 13, 2025 — Tosoh Corp. (Tokyo; www.tosoh.com) plans to increase its production capacity for chloroprene rubber (CR) by adding a second CR production facility at its Nanyo Complex…
Microbial biohydrometallurgy boosts copper recovery from extremely challenging ores
A “plug-and-play” microbial technology enables the recovery of additional copper from low-grade ores when used alongside traditional sulfuric-acid heap-leach methods. Working synergistically within the existing heap-leach infrastructure, the unique microbial communities that have been cultivated by Endolith (Westminster, Colo.; www.endolithmining.com)…
A new demonstration plant expands the horizons of post-consumer recycling
Operations are planned to start up soon at a first-of-its-kind recycling demonstration plant in Monthey, Switzerland. Employing a proprietary reaction technology developed by DePoly S.A. (Sion, Switzerland; www.depoly.co), the plant is set to treat up to 500 tons/yr of polyethylene…
Avoiding Problems in Handling Solid Waste
Bulk-solid waste materials present unique handling challenges. Presented here is a discussion on how to navigate those challenges, along with some characterization strategies to avoid them Across industry sectors, solid waste materials are common and highly varied. The complexities of…
Using water to break ultra-strong PFAS bonds
Water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds is one of the most significant environmental and health issues globally. In particular, effectively breaking the carbon-fluorine bonds that are paramount to the stability and persistent nature of PFAS is extremely…
Rotary Kiln Repair and Replacement
Rotary kilns, essential in catalyst production, require diligent maintenance. Key considerations are presented here Rotary kilns are essential to catalyst production, facilitating the thermal treatment conditions necessary to help ensure that catalysts can meet performance expectations as efficiently as possible.…
Barrier Management: Driving Process Safety Improvement
The barrier-management approach to process safety can help organizations better understand and proactively address the risk inherent in their operations Facilities in the chemical process industries (CPI) have many barriers in place to prevent or limit the effects of a…
New Technologies Promote Improved Combustion
Innovative burner and combustion systems optimize combustion, improving safety, effectiveness and efficiency while lowering emissions In burner and combustion operations, chemical processors must balance emissions and safety requirements with achieving optimal system performance in a cost-effective way. Further, many chemical…
Sulzer launches polystyrene recycling technology
Sulzer Ltd. (Winterthur, Switzerland) is proud to announce the launch of its licensed EcoStyrene polystyrene recycling technology, a groundbreaking solution for the chemical recycling of contaminated polystyrene materials. The EcoStyrene process addresses one of the chemical recycling industry's most significant…