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is in the final stages of approval.Datang has successfully started upthe plant and completed an initialdemonstration run. The successfulattainment of this key projectmilestone is due to the excellentteamwork and cooperation betweenDavy and Johnson Matthey astechnology licensor and catalystsupplier, Datang as the owner andoperator and SEDIN EngineeringCompany Ltd, the Chinese DesignInstitute. The plant is one of six SNGplants that Davy and Johnson Mattheyhave licensed into China, and the firstto start-up and produce gas. AnotherDavy/Johnson Matthey SNG plant isexpected to start-up in 2012 with twofurther plants coming on stream in2013. The plant is now being heldready for commercial operation in thewinter to meet the high demand forenergy supply to the major Chinesecities and especially to Beijing.
Original Source: Johnson Matthey, website:http://www.matthey.com (9 Mar 2013) © JohnsonMatthey plc 2013
NEWTECHNOLOGY
New Fischer-Tropsch catalyst inventedin Amsterdam
Inspired by patents from the 1960saudio cassette recording industry,UvA chemists have now developed anew Fischer-Tropsch catalyst. It canbe used for the making of syntheticfuels from natural gas and biomass.This week the research on the newnanocobalt-ironoxide catalyst waspublished as a VIP article inAngewandte Chemie. The catalystwas patented by the Total SA oil andgas company.
Original Source: Nanotechnology Now, 6 Mar 2013,(Website: http://www.nanotech-now.com/) © 7thWaveInc 2013
UOP launches new membrane elementto improve contaminant removal fromnatural gas
UOP LLC has announced the launchof a new membrane element thatmore efficiently removescontaminants from natural gas andreduces the amount of valuable
methane and natural gas liquids(NGLs) lost during the contaminantremoval process. UOP’s SeparexSelect membrane element is the next-generation technology to removecontaminants such as acid gas andwater from natural gas.
Original Source: Honeywell, 2013. Found on PRNewswire, 12 Mar 2013, (Website:http://www.prnewswire.com)
Biocatalysts: harvesting fungi, isolatingenzymes and substituting cobalt
Austrian company Cytec Austria inGraz and Werndorf and the AustrianCentre of Industrial Biotechnology(ACIB) have developed enzymes toreplace the heavy metal cobalt incoatings. Alkyd resins often containcobalt in order to accelerate thecuring process. However cobalt is nowclassed as potentially carcinogenic. Anew EU regulation will limit thecontent of cobalt in coatings to 10ppm after 2013. At present a suitablecuring is only achieved with 200 ppmcobalt. The enzyme in question iscalled Laccase and is able to bindfatty acid molecules in the alkyd resincoating with the aid of oxygen fromthe air, leading to a curing of thecoating. The partnership resulted inthe development of an environment-friendly coating as well as a newmeasuring method to monitor thecuring process. Cytec provided thealkyd resin for the partnership and theresearch institute supplied theenzymes and scientific know-how,particularly in the biotechnologysegment. The project has a budget ofaround €1 M and Cytec alreadyapplied for a patent. The marketlaunch of the bio-coating is plannedfor 2014.
Original Source: Farbe und Lack (Online Version), 12Mar 2013, (Website: http://www.farbeundlack.de/) (inGerman) © Vincentz Network 2013
Direvo develops consolidatedbioprocess for lactic acid productionfrom lignocellulose
Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH(Direvo) has announced that it isdeveloping a consolidated bioprocessfor lactic acid production fromlignocellulose. Direvo has built up aprocessing chain from pretreatmentthrough fermentation to downstream
processing for a consolidatedbioprocess for lactic acid. On thebasis of pretreated Miscanthus grass,Direvo fermented lactic acid on pilotscale in a single-step-synthesis.Direvo was able to show that theimportant step of downstreamprocessing of free lactic acid in thefermentation matrix can be realised bystandardised procedures. Thedownstream processing was executedin collaboration with the department ofbioengineering of the Leibniz Institutefor Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim. Direvo’s specific, self-isolatedproprietary microorganismCaldicellulosiruptor sp produces theneeded enzymes to ferment thepretreated biomass and converts theemerging sugar to end products. Inthese processes, no cost-intensivetechnical enzymes have to be added.
Original Source: Direvo, 2013. Found on SpecialChemCoatings and Inks Formulation, 12 Mar 2013,(Website: http://www.specialchem4coatings.com)
SPLASH (Sustainable Polymers fromAlgae Sugars and Hydrocarbons)begins research
Rhodia, Avantium Chemicals, OrganicWaste Systems, Lifeglimmer, andPursuit Dynamics are among thecompanies involved in the four-yearresearch project SPLASH (SustainablePolymers from Algae Sugars andHydrocarbons). The EU-funded projectis using the algae Botryococcus brauniiand Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ascomponents in the sustainableproduction and recovery of hydro-carbons and (exo) polysaccharides andconverting them into renewablepolymers. Applications would includefibres for yarns and ropes.
Original Source: Chemistry and Industry (London),Mar 2013, 77 (3), 14 (Website: http://www.soci.org/)© Society of Chemical Industry 2013
PATENTSConversion of methane to liquid fuels
Methane is first brominated tobromomethane and this isdebrominated over a partially de-aluminated ZSM-5 zeolite.
US 8,415,517, GRT Inc, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 9Apr 2013
MAY 2013 7
F O C U S O N C A T A LY S T S