A new technology that uses plasma to kill bacteria and simultaneously oxidize organic material in water systems offers a non-chemical alternative to water treatment in several industry sectors, such as food and beverage, power generation, oil and gas and others.…
Daylight-driven photocatalysts have attracted much attention in the context of “green” technology for reducing pollutants. Although a number of active materials have been reported and their applications are rapidly increasing, many are discovered after enormous experimental efforts. Now, Isao Tanaka…
Toshiba Corp. (www.toshiba.co.jp), Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc. (MHIR; both Tokyo, Japan; www.mizuho-ir.co.jp) and 11 other industrial and academic partners have been selected to carry out a five-year project, “Demonstration of Sustainable CCS Technology Project,” sponsored by Japan’s Ministry…
Last month, Weatherly Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) introduced its new dual-pressure nitric acid (DPNA) technology, which enables economically viable production of HNO3 in large scale [over 1,000 metric tons per day (m.t./d)], as part…
Converting natural gas to liquid hydrocarbons can theoretically be accomplished at high temperatures with the help of zeolite catalysts, but the reaction is hindered by two major factors. The conversion to products is thermodynamically limited, and coke formation on the…
Current commercial technologies for separating and purifying p-xylene — an important precursor for polyesters and plastics — from hydrocarbon mixtures involve phase-change techniques that require large amounts of thermal energy. Recently, a research team from Georgia Institute of Technology (Ga.…
Making CO from CO2Professor Rhosuke Suzuki at Hokkaido University (Sapporo City, Japan; www.eng.hokudai.ac.jp) has developed a molten-salt electrolysis process that can produce CO from high temperature CO2 present in the fluegas of industrial furnaces. The process uses a molten salt…
The rising cost of landfilling trash creates a strong incentive to utilize the waste for saleable products. A recently piloted process is an example: the process can convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into a narrow range of valuable aromatic compounds.…
A patented technology for infusing bubbles of elemental iodine into fluid or air can reduce microbial counts and potentially eliminate surface biofilms. Originally developed to remove biofilms from water lines in the dental industry, the technology is being used as…
A layered coating that acts as an organic semiconductor material allows building windows to generate electricity from direct, indirect, shaded, diffused and reflected sunlight, as well as from artificial light. Developer SolarWindow Technologies Inc. (Columbia, Md.; www.solarwindow.com) has designed and…