Latest News
A low-cost coating system designed to optimize water electrolysis
Seemingly small component changes can make a large impact on the productivity of electrochemistry systems, such as electrolyzers used for producing “green” hydrogen. For example, a new coating technology developed by Oxford nanoSystems Ltd. (OnS; Abingdon, U.K.; www.oxfordnanosystems.com), when applied…
Scaleup underway for super-efficient silver refining
A significant contributor to the cost, energy consumption and carbon footprint of silver production is in the refining steps to remove, recover and recycle zinc from Parkes Crust silver-zinc intermetallic compounds. A fundamental redesign of the silver process to improve…
Advancing battery technologies
Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE, www.energy.gov) announced that two Energy Innovation Hub teams would receive a total of $125 million ($62.5 million to each team) in funding over five years to “seed and accelerate next-generation technologies beyond…
Chementator Briefs
Tire recycling The Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG; Tokyo, Japan; www.mcgc.com) has demonstrated chemical recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) using the coke ovens at its Kagawa Plant (Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture). The company is able to feed crushed ELTs as raw…
Compressors, Fans and Blowers
This compressor extends horsepower and flow range The newly launched SFC 110M variable-frequency-drive compressor (photo) extends the SFC product series to 150 hp, with a 110-kW permanent-magnet motor, and enhances the flow range up to 742 ft3 /min at 100…
Scaling up brine electrolysis for high-purity lithium hydroxide
A significant portion of the energy and cost requirements in the production of lithium-ion batteries stems from the cost of converting lithium sulfate or lithium chloride into lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) of sufficient purity for battery use. Noram Electrolysis Systems,…
Holistic Maintenance and Reliability Programs
When updating equipment protection systems in a plant, it often pays to think long term. Today’s protection systems can do more than avoid catastrophic failure — they are the foundation of an enterprise-wide predictive maintenance program Chemical process industries (CPI)…
Comprehensive destruction of airborne contaminants in a compact bioreactor
There are many categories of air contaminants that may be encountered in industry, from volatile organic compounds to aerosols to viruses, as well as a range of particulate matter and ultra-fine particles, which also vary greatly in size and properties.…
Averting Disaster: Delivering Value from Sensors and Alarms
A strategic approach to asset and alarm management will reduce alarm fatigue, mitigate risk and support more effective response On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig (owned by Transocean and operated by BP) killed…
Process for continuous production of MOFs plans scaleup
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown great potential for a number of applications, including as carbon-capture materials, but their use commercially has been limited by production methods, which are generally expensive batch processes. With the development of a continuous process for…