Chemical Engineering June 2018 - 8

fabricated or natural. Measurements
of the material,
reported last month in ACS
Nano, have been found to
have a Young's modulus (tensile
stiffness) of 86 GPa and a
tensile strength of 1.57 GPa.
" The bio-based nanocellulose
fibers fabricated here
are eight times stiffer and
have strengths higher than
natural dragline spider silk fibers,
generally considered to
be the strongest bio-based
material, " says Daniel Söderberg,
researcher at KTH
Royal Institute of Technology,
and corresponding author
of the study. " The specific
strength is exceeding that of
metals, alloys, ceramics and
E-glass fibers. "
Macroscopic fibers of cellulose
nanofibrils (CNFs) are
fabricated by flow-assisted
organization of the fibrils,
using a double-focusing
channel. By controlling the
flow of CNFs suspended in
water, with connecting flows
of deionized water and lowpH
water, the CNFs become
aligned in the right direction,
and enable the supramolecular
interactions between
CNFs to self-organize into a
well-packed state where they
are joined together.
Söderberg says the study
opens the way for developing
nanofiber material that can
be used for larger structures
while retaining the nanofibers'
tensile strength and ability to
withstand mechanical load.
The process can also be used
to control nanoscale assembly
of carbon tubes and other
nano-sized fibers.
TURING PATTERNS
A research team, led by Lin
Zhang, professor of biomass
chemical engineering at Zhejiang
University (Hangzhou,
China; www.zju.edu.cn), has
fabricated polyamide membranes
with nano-scale Turing
structures, which makes
them
more efficient
than
conventional desalination
membranes used in reverse
osmosis (RO) systems. Turing
structures or patterns are
named after English scientist
Alan Turing, who in the 1952
(Continues on p. 9)
8
First bio-based FDME pilot plant opens
DuPont/ADM
T
he world's first pilot plant for
manufacturing bio-based furan
dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME)
began operating last month in
Decatur, Ill.
A collaboration between DuPont Industrial
Biosciences (Wilmington, Del.; www.
biosciences.dupont.com) and Archer Daniels
Midland Co. (ADM; Chicago, Ill.; www.
adm.com), the 60-ton/yr pilot facility represents
the next step in an ongoing commercialization
process for bio-based FDME
(see Chem. Eng., March 2016, p. 9).
Bio-based FDME is made from cornstarch-derived
fructose
starting material,
and will be used to make a range of
bio-based chemicals and plastics. The
fructose is dehydrated and the products
from the reaction are oxidized to
form furan dicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The
FDCA is then reacted with methanol, resulting
in FDME. DuPont and ADM say
plastics derived from bio-based FDME
will ultimately be more cost-effective, efficient
and sustainable than their petroleum-based
counterparts.
One of the first FDME-based polymers
under development by DuPont is polytrimethylene
furandicarboxylate (PTF), a novel
polyester also made from DuPont's proprietary
Bio-PDO (1,3-propanediol). PTF is
a 100% renewable polymer, DuPont and
ADM say, that, in bottling applications, can
be used to create plastic bottles that are
lighter-weight, more sustainable and better
performing. Research by the two companies
shows that PTF has up to 10-15 times the
CO2 barrier performance of traditional PET
(polyethylene terephthalate) plastic, which
results in a longer shelf life. Improved barrier
performance could allow lighter-weight
packaging designs for beverages.
The two companies say they hope to further
scale up the FDME production process
in the coming months.
DeNOx catalyst operates at lower temperatures
P
rofessor Toru Murayama at Tokyo
Metropolitan University (Tokyo,
Japan; www.haruta-masatake.ues.
tmu.ac.jp),
in
collaboration
with
Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., has developed
a vanadium oxide catalyst that removes
oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from fluegas
generated by the combustion of heavy fuel
oil and coals. The developed V2O5 catalyst
has a high specific-surface area of 40 m2/g,
which enables the deNOx reaction to take
place at a temperature of around 150°C.
This is considerably lower than the 400°C
required by existing catalysts (0.5-2 wt.%
V2O5, with surface areas of 2.5 m2, deposited
on a TiO2 system). The lower temperature
operation is also expected to enable the
catalyst to have a longer lifetime, thereby
lengthening the time required for changeout.
Conventional catalysts operating at the
higher temperatures need to be changed
every 2-4 years, which costs several million
dollars per changeout, says Murayama.
The new catalyst is fabricated to have a
large surface area by calcination of ammonium
metavanadate precursor with oxalic
acid. The catalyst is composed solely of
V2O5, and shows a 90% selectivity for the
reduction of NOx. It is suitable for low-temperature
deNOx of fluegas when poisons,
such as sulfur dioxide, have first been removed.
So far the researchers have demonstrated
that the catalytic performance
is unchanged after treating fluegas for 7
days. They are now planning to perform
durability testing at a coal-fired power
plant through 2021, with commercial applications
by 2024. Besides power plants,
the catalyst may also be suitable for treating
the exhaust from incinerators, as well
as helping ships to meet the tighter international-maritime
regulations.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JUNE 2018
http://biosciences.dupont.com http://www.adm.com http://www.haruta-masatake.ues http://tmu.ac.jp http://www.zju.edu.cn http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering June 2018
