Last month, the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State; University Park, Pa.; www.psu.edu), Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland Ohio; www.case.edu) and Clemson University (S.C.; www.clemson.edu) received a $1.7-million National Science Foundation grant for a four-year project to recover rare earth elements…
In October, researchers from Penn State and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL; Calif.; www.llnl.gov) described — in an article published in ACS Central Science — a new method that improves the extraction and separation of rare earth elements (REEs)…
Ceramic materials’ high heat resistance makes them a promising media for thermal energy storage, but their high costs have inhibited their widespread use for this application. Now, a new technology offered by Seramic Materials Ltd. (Masdar City, U.A.E.; www.seramic.eco) can…
Ultrasound treatment is a non-chemical method to control algae using specific sound frequencies emitted through water to cause internal damage to polluting algae cells. Most previous work in the area of ultrasonic algae control has focused on very loud emitted…
Last month, Andritz AG (Graz, Austria; www.andritz.com) introduced its next-generation of Metris addIQ RheoScan, the world’s first patented, optical-measurement system for automatic polymer dosage in belt presses and gravity belt tables. The new generation uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize…
Curbing emissions of methane gas is a major concern for many industrial sectors. Typical emissions-abatement methods involve combustion, but a new flameless technology designed by Thermon, Inc. (Austin, Tex.; www.thermon.com) employs a proprietary explosion-proof catalytic pad in place of a…
A newly launched feed injector for fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units at petroleum refineries reduces the oil-side pressure drop and lowers the steam required, enabling facilities to achieve the same performance with lower energy consumption, according to developer Lummus Technology…
Primetals Technologies, Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.primetals.com) and thyssenkrupp AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp.com) have signed an exclusive, worldwide cooperation agreement that sees both parties commit to bringing the Sequence Impulse Process (SIP) technology to the market. The SIP technology has been…
This month, SusPhos B.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.susphos.com) is increasing the capacity ten-fold of its 25-kg/d pilot plant in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. The pilot plant, which began operating in January, is being used to develop a process that recovers phosphorus…
Ultrathin (less than 100 nm) hydrophobic coatings on alloys and other engineering materials could enhance heat and mass transfer in a range of processing applications, but achieving lasting durability for such thin coatings in real-world settings has been a major…