Chemical Engineering January 2015 - 14

ChementatoR
(Continued from p. 12)
calcium-looping technology
(Continued from p. 13)
threshold-capture-cost of $30/ton of
CO2 for a fossil fuel power plant.
In this Heclot project, CO2-laden
exhaust gas from the cement plant
is introduced into a fluidized-bed
carbonator reactor, where the CO2
reacts with calcium oxide (CaO) to
form calcium carbonate between 600
and 650°C. The CaCO3 then enters
a calciner, where it undergoes oxyfuel
combustion to release the CO2
in high concentrations and re-form
CaO. The concentrated CO2 is cooled
and compressed for use in growing
microalgae and for enhanced gas
recovery (EGR), where it is sequestered
underground, while the CaO is
returned to the carbonator.
Carbon capture by calcium looping
uses less energy than amine-based
CO2 capture and the CaO is a cheaper
raw material, explains Heng-Wen
Hsu, leader of the ITRI project. " The
CaO fines that are no longer useful in
the carbonator can be used in cement
manufacture, " he notes, " so there is
virtually no waste in the process. "
ITRI is seeking partners to build
an even larger demonstration facility
using the Heclot system. The
ITRI work parallels a similar project
at the Technical University of
Darmstadt (Germany; www.tudarmstadt.de)
that was discussed in
a previous issue (Chem. Eng., January
2013, p. 11), although both the
carbonator and calciner units differ
in the two projects.
Biodegradable drilling lubricant garners
positive field results
A
n encapsulated, biodegradable
drilling-fluid additive designed to
reduce friction on drill bits and piping
inside oil wells has been demonstrated
successfully in more than 30
wells across North America following
its launch in mid-2014.
The lubricant product, known as
Encapso, was developed by Solazyme
Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.;
www.solazyme.com), an industrial
biotechnology company that makes
renewable oils and products. Solazyme
recently announced a partnership
with Versalis, the chemical arm
of oil-and-gas company Eni S.p.A
(Milan, Italy; www.eni.com) whereby
Versalis would market Encapso to
the oil-and-gas industry.
Encapso consists of specifically tailored
triglycerides that serve as lubricants
inside polysaccharide cells,
which serve as an on-demand delivery
mechanism. Solazyme uses its
proprietary biotechnology platform
to convert sugars to triglycerides
and encapsulate the triglyceride in
a polysaccharide shell. The product
is dried to produce a light powder,
which is added to oil-drilling fluid at
the well site.
The encapsulated cells, with their
payload of lubricating oils, circulate
in the drilling fluid until they encounter
areas of high shear stress
and friction. At those points, the cells
rupture, freeing the lubricant and
reducing friction for sliding pipe and
lessening torque requirements for
spinning drill bits.
" Using the encapsulated cells as a
delivery system for lubricant allows
the lubricant to be deployed in a targeted
way, " says Rob Evans, Solazyme
vice president for sales and business
development. " so the Encapso product
is used up less quickly and less
lubricant is lost. "
A one-step, phosgene-free route to urethane
R
esearchers at the National Institute
of Advanced Industrial Science
and Technology's (AIST) Interdisciplinary
Research Center for Catalytic
Chemistry (Tsukuba, Japan; www.
aist.go.jp) have developed a new reaction
process to synthesize aromatic
urethane - a promising starting material
for the production of polyure(For
more on industrial enzymes, see
Newsfront, pp. 19-22.)
Phase-change slurry
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute
for Environmental, Safety and Energy
Technology (Umsicht; Sulzbach-Rosenberg;
www.umsicht.fraunhofer,de) and
RwTh Aachen University (both Germany;
www.rwth-aachen.de) have developed
a new phase-change material (PCM)
trade-named CryoSolPlus. The PCM is
a dispersion of solid paraffin beads and
water, and can be circulated as a heattransfer
fluid, as a storage medium for
thermal systems, and for cooling. when
the dispersion absorbs heat, the paraffin
melts, thereby storing the energy without
a change in temperature. The researchers
have developed mats with capillary tubes
that can be used in ceilings, for example,
to maintain room temperatures as it gets
hot outside, thereby reducing the demand
for air conditioning in buildings.
LED sight-glass light
Illumination is required for visual inspection
of a process through a sight glass in
a vessel or tank. A newly demonstrated
light source, developed by L.J. Star Inc.
(Twinsburg, ohio; www.ljstar.com) and
marketed as the LumiStar3000, is said to
be world's brightest sight-glass light. The
company says the product delivers 3,000
lumens of light, four times the brightness
of a 100-w halogen lamp. And because it
uses a specially designed light-emitting
diode (LED) as the light source, the LumiStar3000
consumes only one tenth of
the energy of a halogen bulb. ❏
Solazyme's ability to engineer encapsulations
with specific characteristics,
and to carefully control its
biotechnology process allows the company
to tailor the triglyceride profile
of the lubricant inside the cells, adds
Jad Finck, director of sales at Solazyme.
Because of Encapso's inherent
biodegradability and unique, on-demand
delivery method, Solazyme is
looking at additional industrial applications
for the technology.
thanes. Unlike traditional urethane
routes, no phosgene is required.
The process is a one-step reaction
in which an amine is reacted with a
tin-alkoxide compound and pressurized
CO2. Yields as large as 82% have
been achieved by reacting aniline and
dibutyltin dimethoxide (mole ratio
of 1:5) for 20 min at 150°C, using a
14 ChEMICAL ENGINEERING www.ChEMENGoNLINE.CoM JANUARY 2015
CO2 pressure of 5 MPa. A 49% yield
was found using 2,4-diaminotoluene
- the precursor for polyurethanes.
After the reaction, the tin compound
could be recovered and reused after
treatment with an alcohol.
The group plans to enhance the efficiency,
and scale up the process to
realize industrial applications.
http://www.umsicht.fraunhofer,de http://www.rwth-aachen.de http://www.tu http://www.darmstadt.de http://www.ljstar.com http://www.solazyme.com http://www.eni.com http://aist.go.jp http://www.ChEMENGoNLINE.CoM
Chemical Engineering January 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering January 2015
