Renewable Paints

Renewable chemicals deviating from oil and sourced from plants is nothing new. Throughout history mankind has survived through the test of times from nature that ultimately is sourced from the sun. This "nature" comes in various forms, such as oil, plants, minerals etc. We started off using animals for our transport system and later moved to coals, oils, and now we are turning to electricity which harnesses the energy of the sun itself.

Will advancement of Chemicals create All-in-1 Capsules?

Recently, an interior designer managed to condense the whole room full of furniture and accessories into just one small box. Whilst this is a very traditional way of doing it, it shows a proven concept that compacting objects is a possible solution, and with advancement of technologies can become a reality. 

The chemical industry has seen a lot of advancement and breakthrough technologies recently. New materials are being innovated with amazing properties. In the semiconductor technology, semiconducting material as thin as 1 atom is being touted to become the next breakthrough providing more efficient advance computing and at the same time consuming a much lower power. Other materials in the chemical industry such as speciality polymers and thermoplastics are becoming popular with the recent 3D printing technologies. 

Robot to Replace Inspection Engineer in the Chemical Industry

We all know how difficult a decision would be for the management of the refining and petrochemical plants when inspection engineers will need to do critical inspection when the integrity of the plant is in doubt. In chemical industry such as production of highly combustible gases and gases that self-ignite upon loss of containment, this is very dangerous.

A Mexican company has come up with a prototype of RoboPipe, a robot that could do the inspection of

Artificial Intelligence Will Soon Operate High Severity Chemical Plants

Throughout the history we are now seeing more and more automation and advanced instrumentation for the energy and chemical industry. Production facility are employing less and less production engineers, supervisors and shift operators. Most chemical plant operators are now spending less time at the field and only function as monitoring and at supervisory panel operator board.

While this sounds like another conspiracy, it is actually not and for the betterment of the chemical plants. The usage of high level of intelligence and predictive process control can benefit the hazardous chemical plants

Technology: Sinopec R&D Creates Proprietary Toluene & Methanol Plant

Sinopec has achieved another significant remarks in its hall of fame after having successfully installed a methylation unit using Sinopec proprietary technology to produce xylene from methylation of toluene and methanol. The test plant is at Sinopec's Yangzi Petrochemical after a successful industrial test run in December 2012. 

The new technology signifies world's first toluene - methanol methylation technology which opens doors to integration of petroleum and coal.

SABIC Expands to India and China

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is seeking expansion of its technology arm outside Middle East with new technology centers in Bangalore India and Shanghai China. The company is looking to invest more on innovations, new chemicals and in the area of sustainability development with the help of around 500 professionals in various areas. The new centers are targeted to be opened in 2013 close to year end focusing on new technologies and strategic business research. 

SABIC has been proclaimed as on of the world's leading petrochemical companies due to recent acquisitions and agressive build-up model and expansion attitude surpassing many of other established multinational petrochemical companies.

The Next Boom in Petrochemical Industry: Age of Abundance

Already many oil and gas analysts in particular in advanced petrochemicals are talking about the absurd "Age of Abundance" is coming. The next petrochemical boom will not be about producing the most petrochemical portfolio, integration upstream and downstream, but a focused new materials development which will require certain feedstock especially new plastics and resins and highly advanced nano-plastics.

The hype about the next petrochemical boom will largely be targeting the industry of computer science, supercomputer, 3D printing and media-related consumer goods. The combination of these industries will see

Supercomputers to Replace Engineers in Oil & Gas Company?

The latest trend in oil and gas companies including some of petrochemical players are setting the horizon for the upcoming age of abundance, and possibly replacing most engineers and skilled individuals in the oil and gas industry by the supercomputers. The likes of BP has spent millions of dollars of building its supercomputer, aimed at seismic imaging and interpreting geological data previously done by groups of skilled geologists. 

BP datacenter in Houston houses 2 petaflops supercomputer which is also used for drilling activities. Already

Japan Turning Second as Biggest Solar Power Market

Japan is planning big on its solar projects to replace the vacuum left by its nuclear facilities for the electricity generation in the country. Softbank of Japan will be operating seven megasolar plants producing 260 MW making it the biggest Japan’s solar power firm.

Japan’s latest policy subsidizing renewable energy may see Japan to leapfrog Italy to become the number two market for solar power behind Germany. A new superscale of solar power capable of producing 200MW is also on the pipeline for Hokkaido plant.

New Cheap Solar Panels Created

Researchers from the University of Toronto and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia had created a solar cell out of cheap, inexpensive materials for usage of solar panels with an impressive 7% efficiency.

The new solar cells use quantum dots which can harvest electricity from both the visible and invisible wavelengths of the solar spectrum. Furthermore, it can be created using similar methods used to produce paint or ink which can be fabricated on flexible substrates in the same way newspapers are rapidly printed in mass quantities.

The new way of producing the material pushed the efficiency by 37% compared to previous method using hybrid passivation method using small chlorine atoms.

SABIC Venturing into Oleochemicals with Lurgi

Saudi's SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp) has announced that it will partner with German's Lurgi for technology provider in oleochemicals. The said arrangement is set to tapped into Lurgi's technology that will utilize renewable feedstocks with planned oleochemicals plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

The renewable feedstock is targeted to produce 83,000 tonnes/year of distilled natural alcohols by 2013. It is likely that the plant will be a trial set-up utilizng Lurgi's new technology.

Qatar Engineer Designed Natural Cooling Palm

A Qatari engineer has designed the world's first Cooling Palm which has a structure like a palm trees with 40m high and able to cool the surrounding temperature to as low as 25 degC from a 40 degC high temperature which is common in Qatar.

The cooling palm does this by reducing the humidity of the air and converts the moisture to water. An industrial fog valve system then convert the water to cold fog and significantly reducing the surrounding temperature.

The environmental friendly cooling palm device does not consume energy other than using solar power. The application is said to be used in pedestrian streets at hot climate which also serves as beautification through its palm tree like looking.

Global Warming May Hinder Petrochemical Outlook

Asian industry leaders are skeptical on the petrochemical outlook in the near future from increase pressure of environmental concern in particular global warming. Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) chairman, Kenji Fujiyoshi was urging the industry players to re-look at energy effectiveness and improvement via reusable energy.

Two identified areas are methods for naphtha cracking, where major petrochemical feedstocks are coming from as well as fossil fuels substitutes. Currently there has been a few successful direct alternatives of petrochemical products that using 100% alternative feedstock other than fossil fuels.

It is expected that the trend will continue to grow in 2010, coming mostly from already popular agriculture products such as corns and palm oils. Other growing technologies include bio-glycerol such as ones for propylene oxide production.

Biodiesel Producers Looking at Power Plant

Biodiesel players are currently looking at ways of expanding businesses and usage of edible oils. One such company is Desmet Ballestra who is currently looking at acquiring technologies to use ethanol and biomass for power plants.

The move is seen as complimenting the biodiesel industry which has seen big impacts due to food commodities surge in the past years.

New Breakthrough in Solar Power with 66 % Efficiency

A new breakthrough in solar power brings new hope to increase energy efficiency of solar panel and consequently a wider commercial use of the technology. Researchers from the University of Texas in Austin and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis have discovered a process that can increase the conversion efficiency of solar cells up to 66%.

Current solar panels generate hot electrons and lose the energy through heat before it can be captured and used for electricity. In contrast, the new technology is able to slow down the cooling process of hot electrons increasing the energy that is currently lost as heat in conventional solar cells.

A demonstration site is currently under way at University's Houston Campus with demonstration project to be constructed in Brookshire City, Texas by Evolution Solar.

Australia to have 100% Renewable Energy by 2020

Australia is on a path to rely on 100% on renewable energy sources by 2020. It was based on the research by Melbourne University’s Energy Research Institute through its Evironmental group Beyond Zero Emissions which was presented to the Australian Parliament.

The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy report claims at a price of A$37bn ($32.4bn) a year Australia can totally replace fossil fuel baseload electricity using renewable energy technology that is already available today.

Technically, the strategy aims at a mix of 60% of energy from solar thermal with molten salt storage and 40% from wind power with possibility of advanced solar photovoltaic (PV) to hit grid parity between 2015-20.

US Energy Company Raising Money for First US Oil Sands Project

Earth Energy Resources Inc., a Canadian company has been granted a government's approval to launch the very first US oil sands project in a 62 acre pit in Uintah County, Utah.

The project would be able to produce 2,000 barrels of oil a day by extracting oil out of sands using a proprietary solvent. Earth Energy requires $35 million to fund the project.

Oil Companies Venturing to Solar, Led by Chevron

With the expected upcoming government policy changes to force oil companies to curb greenhouse gas emissions, big oil companies are looking at emerging renewable technologies. Chevron’s latest one-megawatt concentrating solar photovoltaic project in New Mexico, is a testimony of the situation.

Chevron will be utilizing technology from Concentrix Solar, whose CPV solar system will be used in the facility at Chevron Mining’s molybdenum mine in Questa, New Mexico expected to begin construction in spring 2010

New Technologies Create Oil Industry Boom in North Dakota

Recent technology advancement in drilling techniques has enable bigger oil wells to be developed with faster drilling and lower costs. Such things have turned North Dakota massive oil reserve to be economically able to be tapped.

The two miles underground Bakken Shale deposit has been known and tapped on occasion for decades. This year however is entirely new since technological improvements made it extremely economically and quickly becoming United State's fastest-growing oil-producing areas.

In 2009 alone the oil production has jumped to 80 million barrels, a figure that will be fast growing in 2010 especially since the Bakken Shale could contain up to 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

Sasol - Petronas Joint Feasibility Study on Uzbekistan GTL

Sasol is in the stage of doing feasibility study with Petronas for a Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) proposition in Uzbekistan. The two giants, Sasol which is the biggest producer of motor fuels from coal and Petronas, one of the seven sisters will be doing the study overseen by a joint-venture company.

The GTL plant which will be using Sasol's technology is rumoured to produce 1.3 million tonnes of fuel components including diesel, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gass similar to Sasol's GTL plant in Qatar.