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Latest News: Technologies

A new way to capture CO2 in cement

Technologies designed to capture and store CO2 emissions from industrial operations are rapidly gaining traction, but finding ways to economically utilize the captured CO2 has posed challenges. A team of engineers from the University of California Los Angeles’ (UCLA; www.ucla.edu)…

Improve aircraft fuel efficiency with ‘sharkskin’

Lufthansa Technik AG (Hamburg; www.lufthansa-technik.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) have developed a surface film, tradenamed AeroSHARK, that mimics the fine structure of a shark’s skin for reducing friction. The technology is to be rolled out on Lufthansa Cargo…

Converting woody biomass to intermediates allows carbon-negative products

Construction has begun on a market demonstration facility for manufacturing chloromethyl furfural (CMF) and hydrothermal carbon (HTC) from a variety of waste biomass feedstocks. With subsequent chemical transformation, these flexible intermediates can be converted into final products, such as polyethylene…

Chementator Briefs

Biomass Corn stover is among the major feedstocks for biorefineries, and can be converted to bioethanol. When corn stover contains moisture above certain levels, it can clog conveyers and chutes during processing, leading to operational problems and process stoppages. To…

Modular waste-to-energy system is cost-competitive at smaller scales

A newly launched modular waste-to-energy system is capable of delivering off-grid heat and power with competitive economics to a variety of locations, including military bases, remote sites and commercial installations, according to creator Enexor BioEnergy LLC (Franklin, Tenn.; www.enexor.com). Under…

High-temperature heat pump promises significant energy savings

Industrial heat pumps (diagram) are a relatively mature technology that converts low-temperature waste heat into a more usable heat at a higher temperature (above the “pinch point”). However, the technology has been limited to applications of up to 100°C. Now,…

An electrotrophic system that treats swine sewage in one step

Researchers from the Biological Systems Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST; Japan; www.oist.jp) have developed a bioelectrochemical system that uses bacterial communities to break down organic material from raw wastewater, and removes both nitrates…

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AI-enabled design-and-test platform speeds bioproduct development

TeselaGen Biotechnology (San Francisco, Calif.; www.teselagen.com) has developed a platform technology that integrates software and services, while taking advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) by applying machine-learning algorithms to reduce the costs and time required for the development of biologically derived…

Recovering battery-grade graphite, without using HF

Typically, to achieve the high graphite purity levels demanded by lithium-ion battery (LIB) applications, processors depend on hydrofluoric acid to remove silica impurities. Now, a new graphite-purification technology that eliminates the use of highly corrosive and toxic HF is being…

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Compressing hydrogen electrochemically

Kaji Technology Corp. (Osaka; www.kajitech.com) and Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.toray.com) have jointly completed developing and demonstrating an electrochemical hydrogen pump system earlier this year. This effort was part of a project, funded by the New Energy and…