Chemical Engineering November 2013 - 10

apture realtime images of gas leaks with this technology
ew gas-cloud imaging technology
from Rebellion Photonics
ouston; www.rebellionphotoncom)
monitors facilities for
leaks and is capable of imagchemical
releases in realtime,
ntifying and quantifying gas
uds over large sections of a facil(photo).
The company's technoly
aims to improve today's alarmsed,
point-detector systems,
ich are limited in coverage area
d in their ability to visualize
issions.
Growing out of research at Rice
iversity (Houston; www.rice.edu), Rebeln's
Gas-Cloud Imaging camera captures
rared (IR) spectral information about
range of gaseous chemicals from digivideo
images instantly. The process is
own as " snapshot " hyperspectral imaging
SI). The company has also developed optihardware
to allow the " snapshot " HSI, as
ll as algorithms that can process the imes
at video rates, instead of over a much
ger period, as had been the case with preus
efforts with HSI.
For carrying out HSI, Rebellion has develd
the fully automatic Gas-Cloud Imaging
mera, which is capable of detecting longvelength
(7.5-14.5 micron) IR spectra
m a variety of gases across a mosaic of
ds of view at a chemical facility. The camdetects
small temperature differentials
ween leaked gases and the background
ne. To identify the gas, the camera dets
an IR absorption spectrum from the
leaked gas that is matched to a database of
known spectra.
The camera is mounted on a movable pedestal
that can be programmed to move continuously
and systematically across a wide
area, effectively monitoring entire sections
of a facility with a single camera, and providing
operators with IR-based visual information
about the gas emissions. The system
can identify dozens of chemicals across long
distances in a variety of weather conditions.
" Operators do not need to monitor the
signal, because the system is programmed
to automatically notify the appropriate personnel
with a visual representation of the
leak, should one occur, " says Robert Kester
co-founder of Rebellion Photonics.
The first installation of the technology
has been performing well, Kester says, at a
petroleum refining facility in Ohio. The company
is offering its technology to facilities on
a subscription basis.
rst commercial-scale high-solids
naerobic digester in North America
arvest Power (Waltham, Mass.; www.harvestpower.com)
recently began operation
he first commercial-scale, high-solids anobic
digester in North America. The faty
produces biogas from food waste and
d waste in Richmond, B.C., Canada.
The anaerobic digester employs essenly
the same biology that you would see in
stomachs of ruminants, but the process is
ng applied to a high-solids feedstock, " exins
Paul Sellew, CEO of Harvest Power.
The process begins in a series of gastight
nnels equipped with a percolation system
ere an aqueous solution of hydrolysate is
ayed down over the feedstock and organic
last month, ge (Fairfield,
Conn.; www.ge.com) introduced
leaPprimary, a new
primary wastewater-treatme
technology for use with the
company's Zeeweed membrane
bioreactor (mbr) and
leaPmbr systems. leaPpr
mary is said to significantly
duce overall energy consum
tion, costs and physical spa
requirements by combining
separation, thickening and d
watering of primary wastew
solids into one unit.
with leaPprimary, total
suspended solids are redu
by 50-70%; biochemical ox
gen demand is reduced by
25-40%; and the removed
ids can be dewatered to 20
30% dry matter, thus minim
ing handling costs, says ge
energy usage for biologica
treatment is reduced becau
solids and organic matter a
removed prior to secondary
biological treatment, adds t
company.
Photobioreactor demo
Proterro inc. (ewing, n.J.; w
proterro.com) has announc
plans for a demonstrationscale
facility that incorporat
its photobioreactor system
for synthesizing sucrose fro
Co2, sunlight and water. intended
to lower the cost of
sugar production, the techn
ogy uses patented microorganisms
and an inexpensiv
and scalable reactor (Chem
Eng., June 2012, p. 11). The
company has completed pr
liminary design and layout f
the new facility, which will be
located in Florida.
then fed to naturally occurring anaerobes to
make biogas.
After digestion, the feedstock is composted
and sold as high-quality soil products,
while the biogas is used by a 2.5-MW combined
heat and power (CHP) system. The
clean energy component of the facility will
process about 40,000 ton/yr of food and yard
waste from local residences and businesses,
in addition to the 200,000 ton/yr processed
by the adjacent composting system.
Harvest has established a longterm agreement
with the local utility to supply power
to the grid, Sellew notes (for more on biogas,
see The Biogas Boom, Chem. Eng., July
CO2 capture
last month, lanxess ag (C
logne, germany; www.lanxe
com) commissioned a new
Co2-concentration unit at its
newcastle production site in
South africa. The company
invested €40 million in the u
which is designed to capture
170 metric tons (m.t.) of Co
per day from the fluegas gen
ated by burning natural gas
conventional boilers used to
make steam. The captured C
will be used as a feedstock a
the site for the production of
sodium dichromate, which is
(Continues on p
http://www.ge.com http://www.rebellionphoton http://www.rice.edu http://www.proterro.com http://www.har http://www.lanxe http://www.vestpower.com
Chemical Engineering November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering November 2013
