municipal solid waste via gasificationfollowed by catalysis.

Original Source: LanzaTech, 2012. Found onMarketwire, 3 Dec 2012, (Website:http://www.marketwire.com). Original Source:Chemical and Engineering News, 10 Dec 2012, 90(50), 10 (Website: http://www.cen-online.org) © American Chemical Society 2012

NEWTECHNOLOGY

BMS and RWTH boost chemicals’production from carbon dioxide byproviding funds to CAT Catalytic Center

The CAT Catalytic Center in Aachen,Germany, can expand its role as aninternational hub of catalysis research.It has secured funding for another fiveyears from Bayer and RWTH AachenUniversity, which together hadestablished the centre in 2008. Thecentre leads efforts to use carbondioxide as an alternative building blockfor plastics. The second funding periodbegan on 1 Sep 2012 and total fundingis adding up to €20 M over a period of10 years for the CAT Catalytic Center toconduct research. According to a BayerMaterialScience catalysis programexpert, Bayer has developed a catalystthat is significantly improved and achemical reactor for carbon dioxide-reforming that displays cost advantagesover conventional plants. This reformeris under construction as ademonstration facility at the INVITEresearch centre, run jointly inLeverkusen, Germany, by BayerTechnology Services and DortmundTechnical University. The new reformeris scheduled to go into operation therein spring 2013.

Original Source: Bayer MaterialScience, 2012. Found onSpecialChem Plastics and Elastomers Formulation, 27Nov 2012, (Website:http://www.specialchem4polymers.com). OriginalSource: Chemie Magazine (Website: http://www.vnci.nl)(in Dutch) © De Vereniging van de NederlandseChemische Industrie (VNCI) 2012. Original Source:Plastics Today News, 5 Dec 2012, (Website:http://www.plasticstoday.com/) © UBM Canon 2012

US DoE to invest $4 M in carbonrecycling technology

Advanced Materials, a spinoff fromthe University of Illinois, has beenawarded $4 M by the AdvancedResearch Projects Agency – Energy

for further research on its carbonrecycling technology. The fund is forproducing transportation fuels andindustrial chemicals electrochemicallyusing carbon dioxide that was earlieremitted out of power plants. DioxideMaterials will tie-up with 3M todevelop the first industrially relevantprototype. Dioxide Materials holds apatent for a catalyst that uses lessenergy to recycle carbon dioxide.

Original Source: CTBR Clean Technology BusinessReview, 5 Dec 2012, (Website:http://www.cleantechnology-business-review.com/) © CTBR 2012

Bayer has better Deacon catalyst

The catalysis team at Bayer hasexpertise in all three types of catalysis –homogeneous, heterogeneous, andenzymic. One ongoing project involvednew chlorination processes. At present,electrolysis is the preferred method forchlorine production. The chlorineappears at the end of the process ashydrochloric acid. For this reason,efficient energy-saving ways are neededto recycle HCl. Bayer’s research teamuses the Deacon process, a form ofheterogeneous catalysis. The hydrogenchloride is oxidized by oxygen using aruthenium catalyst. Over 200 differentcatalyst systems were identified. Expertsthen developed a modular systemincorporating heat exchangers todissipate the large amounts of heatreleased in the Deacon process. Theprocess has now proved itseffectiveness.

Original Source: Bayer Research, Nov 2012, (24), 7(Bayer AG, Corporate Communications, 51368Leverkusen, Germany, Tel: +49 (0) 214 30 48825, Fax:+49 (0) 214 30 71985, Website:http://www.bayer.com) © Bayer AG 2012

Progress on catalysts for makingsynthetic natural gas from coal

Yili Xintian Coal Chemical Co Ltdpresents a review of the current statusof methanation catalyst in China andoverseas. It reports its progress in thedevelopment of carriers, additives,and active components for thecatalysts used in production ofsynthetic natural gas from coal.Factors influencing catalyst activityare described.

Original Source: Xiandai Huagong, 20 Aug 2012, 32(8), 33-36 (website: http://www.xdhg.com.cn) (inChinese) © China National Chemical InformationCenter 2012

PATENTSLipase interesterification

Vegetable oils are commerciallyinteresterified by lipases, but theperformance of these lipases isdegraded by transition metal ions. Tominimise such degradation, the metalions are chelated by agents such ascitric acid. The performance of thesechelating agents is improved by theaddition of bases such as sodiumcarbonate.

US 8,349,594, Novozymes AS, Bagsvaerd, Denmark,and Novozymes North America, Franklinton, NC,USA, 8 Jan 2013

Continuous activation of Phillips’polymerisation catalysts

The active species in Phillips’catalysts is divalent chromium, whichbecomes oxidised in use and mustthen be reduced. This activation isdone continuously in a separatehorizontal fluidised bed using agaseous reducing agent such ascarbon monoxide.

US 8,349,264, Chevron Phillips Chemical Co, TheWoodlands, TX, USA, 8 Jan 2013

Mixed metal oxide catalyst formaking methacrylic acid

Methacrylic acid is usually madefrom propylene in a two-stageprocess in which the first catalystcontains bismuth molybdate and thesecond contains vanadiummolybdate. In this invention, the one-stage process is catalysed by amixed Mo-Bi-Nb oxide catalyst.

US 8,354,482, LG Chem, Seoul, S Korea, 15 Jan2013

Butene isomerisation catalyst

Catalysts for converting 1-butene to2-butene usually contain magnesiawith a silicate binder. This version,which is claimed to have betterisomerisation performance and crushstrength, contains zirconia and/orlanthana as a stabiliser.

US 8,343,885, BASF Corp, Florham Park, NJ, USA, 1Jan 2013

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F O C U S O N C A T A LY S T S