Chemical Engineering May 2018 - 10

(Jinan, China), Pennsylvania
State University (University
Park, Pennsylvania), Aberystwyth
University (U.K.) and Aalborg
University (Denmark).
DEWAXING CATALYST
Clariant's Catalyst business
(Munich, Germany; www.
clariant.com) has launched a
new diesel dewaxing catalyst,
HYDEX E, an extension of the
company's HYDEX series,
which is designed for selective
hydrocracking of long-chain
normal paraffins to improve
the cold-flow properties
Truck-mounted process turns waste to methane
Biogas
group of researchers
from South Dakota
School of Mines and
Technology (SDSM&T;
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Hydrocyclone
of
middle distillates. Catalytic dewaxing
is essential for regulating
fuel fluidity characteristics
of diesel fuel to ensure reliable
applicability and performance.
This is particularly true for cold
weather conditions.
Until now, the series included
HYDEX G for dewaxing diesel
and kerosene, HYDEX L for
viscosity adjustment of heavy
hydrocarbons, and special
catalyst solutions tailored to
users' needs. The range was
expanded to create a new
catalyst that allows operation
under full sour-service conditions.
HYDEX E achieves this
thanks to its robust zeolite content,
which is combined with
non-precious metal composition
to ensure stable hydrogen
transfer. On-site testing of
HYDEX E in an ultra-low sulfur
diesel (ULSD) hydrotreater
pilot plant resulted in approximately
4 wt.% more on-road
diesel product compared to
previous HYDEX generations.
CORROSION PROTECTION
To
prevent
corrosive substances
from penetrating into
steel structures, a common
method is to create an anticorrosion
coating by painting
layers of zinc-phosphate particles.
Now, researchers at INM
- Leibniz Institute for New Materials
GmbH (Germany; www.
inm-gmbh.de) have developed
flake-shaped metal-phosphate
particles that show improved
passivation ability and
an improved diffusion barrier
against corrosive substances.
Because of their anisotropy,
the flake-shaped particles
show a better solubility compared
to spherical particles
(Continues on p. 11)
10
Rapid City; www.sdsmt.edu) has
developed a modular technology
known as the Gas Cube, which
can convert a wide variety of liquid
and solid waste into methane.
Having a viable, flexible solution
for waste management in remote
locations is paramount for saving costs and
ensuring sustainability. The portable technology's
first application will be treating kitchen
waste from a U.S. Air Force base in a remote
location. Along with food waste, SDSM&T
says that the Gas Cube is also suitable for
handling cardboard, agricultural residues or
even wastewater.
In the process (diagram) the solid waste
is first fed to a shredder. Then, in a continuously
stirred tank reactor (CSTR), hydrolytic
microorganisms convert the waste materials
into sugars, and fermenting microbes further
break down the sugars into fatty acids. Remaining
solids are filtered out and given more
time to react. The fatty acids are then fed to
a vertical chamber for a process dubbed upflow
anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB). Here,
methanogenic microbes transform them into
CH4, which can be used at the site to run
generators or other equipment. The ability
FW
+
CCB
Neutralization to
pH 6.5
CSTR
Rejected
solids
Hydraulic
buffering
tank
Recirculation
U
A
S
B
Effluent
A
to handle a mixture of food and cardboard
waste, along with the adoption of a two-stage
anaerobic digestion process to a portable,
skid-mounted unit, make the Gas Cube especially
unique, says Patrick Gilcrease, professor
of chemical and biological engineering
at SDSM&T.
The Gas Cube has been demonstrated
using 2-L reactors, and a field prototype unit
is currently undergoing tests. " Rather than
further scaleup, the plan is to send multiple
truck-mounted units to handle more waste
at a given site, " explains Gilcrease. " If prototype
tests are successful, the next steps will
be testing alternative wastes that could benefit
from small-scale onsite treatment. Microbreweries
are one possibility, " he adds. Another
task will be to reduce the unit's weight
for ease of transportation. Currently, the prototype
uses carbon-steel tanks, but the use of
plastic tanks would greatly decrease weight.
A more sustainable colorant technique for
polyester fibers
T
he global textile industry generates a
great deal of waste, and many efforts
are taking place to make textile processing
more sustainable. PolyOne
Corp. (Cleveland, Ohio; www.polyone.com)
has introduced a new fiber-colorant technology
for polyester that incorporates proprietary
high-pressure metering equipment with the
company's ColorMatrix liquid concentrates.
The technology enables the color-injection
step to take place further downstream than
in conventional colorant processes.
In the new ColorMatrix process, liquid
color is injected into the polyester melt-flow
between the end of the extruder and the
spin head. This later-stage injection minimizes
color contamination and reduces the
time required for cleaning and color changeout.
Furthermore, several injection points
can be added to run multiple colors or additives
simultaneously on a single extruder
line. This flexibility is especially beneficial to
small-batch production, as manufacturers
can use the same process to make a wide
range of volumes and the process can be
rapidly scaled onsite. Also, the new technology
enables facilities that use reactor spinning
lines to produce standard white polyester
fibers to produce colored products inline,
eliminating the need for a secondary aqueous
dyeing process.
Traditional aqueous dyeing processes can
use up to 10 L of water to color a single kilogram
of fiber, but this new spin-coloring
technology reportedly requires no water and
consumes less energy and fewer chemicals.
Additionally, it eliminates the secondary
treatment operations typically
required
to discharge wastewater safely into the environment.
The technology's precise mixing elements
are crucial to harnessing the full benefits
of flexibility and efficiency, says PolyOne.
So far, the technology's deployment has
been focused on specific projects, but plans
are in place to scale up the process for users'
core product ranges. According to PolyOne,
while the technology is currently targeted to
polyester fibers, plans are underway to begin
exploring its application for other polymer fibers,
including nylon and polypropylene.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2018
http://www.sdsmt.edu http://www.clariant.com http://www.polyone.com http://www.inm-gmbh.de http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering May 2018

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