Latest News
New plasma-powered process directly converts methane to graphene oxide
Researchers at Texas A&M University (College Station; www.tamu.edu) have developed a fundamentally new route to graphene oxide (GO) synthesis using non-thermal atmospheric plasma — a method that sidesteps the toxic chemicals and scalability limitations that often constrain conventional production approaches.…
Scaleup planned for system that can decarbonize furnace-based processes
Technology spun out from the University of Birmingham (www.birmingham.ac.uk) and developed by the startup PeroCycle Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.; www.perocycle.com) is aimed at low-cost decarbonization of blast-furnace and direct-reduced-iron (DRI) steel-making operations, along with other furnace-based industrial processes, like glass-making. The…
Industrial Heat Pumps for Waste-Heat Upgrading
Electrification of industrial processes using heat pumps is moving from niche applications toward the mainstream, but challenges to their implementation remain Decarbonization initiatives have focused attention on the production of process heat for industrial operations without the combustion of fossil…
Mobile Rounds, Real-Time Results: Kaneka Brings Operator Rounds into the Digital Age
At Kaneka North America, replacing paper procedures and reports with guided digital workflows for operator rounds streamlined knowledge-sharing and improved process consistency Kaneka North America LLC, a division of Kaneka Corp. (Osaka, Japan; www.kaneka.com), manufactures specialty chemicals and advanced polymer…
Protein-binding process supports selective rare-earth element separation
Isolating and purifying rare-earth elements (REEs) is extremely challenging and energy-intensive due to the difficulty in separating chemically similar REE ions. Traditional separation methods require solvent extraction or chelating agents and produce large volumes of hazardous waste, all with little…
Layered graphite membrane has internal structure to aid water separation from IPA
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is a key industrial solvent for the pharmaceuticals, electronics and fine chemicals sectors, among other uses, but methods for making IPA leave water-alcohol mixtures that need to be separated to achieve the purities required for industrial use.…
Sorbent-based ammonia-production system lowers cost and allows modularity
World-scale ammonia-production plants based on the Haber-Bosch process supply the ammonia for most of today’s agricultural fertilizer industry. But building new capacity for ammonia production is economically difficult because of the high capital expenditures needed for plants large enough to…
Synthetic enzyme mimicry breaks open new aromatic reaction pathways
Mimicking enzyme-like behavior for synthetic chemistry is a growing field of exploration in sustainable chemical production, unlocking potential new reaction routes that eliminate waste and unwanted byproducts. A team of chemists from Penn State University (State College, Pa.; www.psu.edu) has…
Toray Industries develops first solvent-based recycling technology for recovering PPS from waste
Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan; www.toray.com) announced that it has developed what it believes is the industry’s first solvent-based recycling technology to recover polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) from waste materials. The technology selectively dissolves and separates PPS from the materials while…
Air Liquide invests 170 million euros to supply ultra-high-purity gases to semiconductor manufacturer in Japan
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) today announced a new investment of more than 170 million euros to supply ultra-high purity gases to a leading semiconductor manufacturer in Japan. Under a long-term agreement, the Group will support the expansion of its…