CO2 to CO SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology, an R&D organization of SK Innovation Co. Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.skinnovation.com), has successfully manufactured about 1 kg/d of CO using diatomic catalyst (DAC) technology, which selectively converts CO2…
Capturing natural gas from petroleum drilling wells is economically challenging, but would have positive environmental impacts because it would eliminate the need for flaring and could allow the hydrocarbons to be converted into useful chemicals. Now, research led by chemists…
In traditional beer brewing, the progress of the fermentation process is typically checked manually, by inserting a hydrometer (beer spindle) that measures the density, from which the extract content of the wort can be derived — a procedure that not…
Researchers at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zurich; Switzerland; www.ethz.ch) and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU; www.ntu.edu.sg) developed a process to utilize industrial chicken feathers for making proton-conductive membranes that can be used in fuel cells, protonic transistors and water-splitting…
A new ammonia-recovery plant has begun steady-state operation to demonstrate a patented process to upcycle the ammonia content from cattle manure into stabilized fertilizer ingredients. The Ammonia Recovery System (ARS) was developed by Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (Old Bethpage, N.Y.;…
A new plasma-based technology is being touted as a more sustainable method for textile finishing, including water-intensive dyeing and coating processes. The Ausora process, developed by Xefco Pty. Ltd. (Eveleigh, Australia; www.xefco.com), in partnership with the Recycling and Clean Energy…
Metal components made with laser powder-bed fusion — an important additive manufacturing process — must be qualified for use in critical applications, but the qualification relies on expensive non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. In-process monitoring offers a less expensive alternative, but…
Leather Tanning Trumpler GmbH & Co. KG (Worms, Germany; www.trumpler.com) and Archroma (Pratteln, Switzerland; www.archroma.com) have developed a new leather-production process that can be used to produce high-performance leather in a more eco-friendly and cost-efficient way. The new process, DyTan,…
In recent years, engineers at ETH Zurich have developed technology to produce liquid fuels from sunlight and air. At the heart of the production process is a solar reactor that is exposed to concentrated sunlight delivered by a parabolic mirror…
Substituting nitrogen atoms for aromatic carbon atoms at specific locations within the molecular skeleton of a possible therapeutic agent can have significant effects on molecular properties critical for biological activity, such as hydrogen bonding, polarity, metabolic stability, target specificity and…