Recent Patents on Chemical Engineering
ISSN: 1874-4788 - Volume 1, 2008

Recent Patents on Chemical
Engineering
Volume 1, Number 1, January 2008
Contents

Review on Patents in Microreactor and Micro Process
Engineering Pp. 1-16
Volker Hessel, Christoph Knobloch and Holger Löwe
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
New Technologies for Water and Wastewater
Treatment: A Survey of Recent Patents Pp. 17-26
Berrin Tansel
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
Surface Chemical Functional Groups Modification of
Porous Carbon Pp. 27-40
Wenzhong Shen, Zhijie Li and Yihong Liu
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
Current Patents of Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers
in Membranes Pp. 41-51
Jinrong Wang, Yiyun Cheng and Tongwen Xu
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
Carbon Dioxide Separation through Polymeric Membrane
Systems for Flue Gas Applications Pp. 52-66
Colin A. Scholes, Sandra E. Kentish and Geoff W. Stevens
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
Infrared Reflective Inorganic Pigments Pp.
67-79
Ashwini Krishna Bendiganavale and Vinod C. Malshe
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
Recent Innovations in Turbulent Mixing with Static
Elements Pp. 80-87
Alessandro Paglianti
[Abstract] [Full
Text Article]
Patent
Selections Pp. 88-92
Abstracts

[Back to top]
Review on Patents in Microreactor and Micro Process
Engineering
Volker Hessel, Christoph Knobloch and Holger Löwe
[Full
Text Article]
During the last five years, the number of patent publications
in the field of microreactor engineering has increased steadily
and seems now to approach a more constant level. The majority
of patents are initiated by German, US, and Japanese inventors
or applicants. Even among these, a few chemical companies
and institutes have a major share. Initially, the focus was
on fabrication, device, and total system related inventions.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of process patent publications
have been released showing the further stage of implementation
of the technique which is moving to micro process engineering.
The focus of the patents and published patent applications
is on fine-chemical processes.
[Back to top]
New Technologies for Water and Wastewater
Treatment: A Survey of Recent Patents
Berrin Tansel
[Full
Text Article]
The concern over increasing needs for drinking water and awareness
for development of systems to improve water quality both for
drinking purposes and for effluents from wastewater treatment
and industrial facilities have provided incentives to develop
new technologies and improve performance of existing technologies.
In this paper, the patents on treatment of water and wastewater
approved during the period from 1999 to 2007 were reviewed.
The patents surveyed were classified into two groups as technologies
for water purification systems for drinking water, and technologies
for treatment of wastewater. An assessment of the current
and future outlook for development of new technologies, methods
of treatment, equipment and instruments which can be used
for water and wastewater treatment applications are presented.
[Back to top]
Surface Chemical Functional Groups Modification of
Porous Carbon
Wenzhong Shen, Zhijie Li and Yihong Liu
[Full
Text Article]
The surface chemistry and pore structure of porous carbons
determine its application. The surface chemistry could be
modified by various methods, such as, acid treatment, oxidization,
ammonization, plasma, microwave treatment, and so on. In this
paper, the modification methods were illustrated and compared,
some new methods also reviewed. The surface chemical functional
groups were determined by the treatment methods, the amminization
could increase its basic property while the oxidization commonly
improved its acids. In the end, the commonly characterization
methods were also mentioned. Some interesting patents are
also discussed in this article.
[Back to top]
Current Patents of Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers
in Membranes
Jinrong Wang, Yiyun Cheng and Tongwen Xu
[Full
Text Article]
Dendrimers or other hyperbranched polymers are a new class
of artificial polymers with unique properties, such as high
degree of branching units, high density of surface functional
groups, nano-scaled size, well-defined molecular weight and
low-dispersity. These features make them attractive materials
in the field of membrane science. This review is a short survey
of patents on dendrimers and other hyperbranched polymers
in membrane fields such as proton exchange membranes, bipolar
membranes, gas separation membranes, and solid-liquid separation
membranes, etc.
[Back to top]
Carbon Dioxide Separation through Polymeric Membrane
Systems for Flue Gas Applications
Colin A. Scholes, Sandra E. Kentish and Geoff W. Stevens
[Full
Text Article]
The capture and storage of carbon dioxide has been identified
as one potential solution to greenhouse gas driven climate
change. Efficient separation technologies are required for
removal of carbon dioxide from flue gas streams to allow this
solution to be widely implemented. A developing technology
is membrane gas separation, which is more compact, energy
efficient and possibly more economical than mature technologies,
such as solvent absorption. This review examines the recent
patented developments in polymeric based membranes designed
for carbon dioxide separation from mixed-gas systems. Initially,
the background to polymeric membrane separation is provided,
with an overview of past polymeric designs. This is followed
by a discussion on the current state of the art; in particular
developments in mixed matrix polymeric membranes and facilitated
transport polymeric membranes for improved carbon dioxide
permeation and selectivity. Recent developments in other membrane
types, carbon and inorganic, are reviewed for comparison purposes
with polymeric developments. Finally, a brief comment on the
future directions of polymeric membrane gas separation technologies
is provided.
[Back to top]
Infrared Reflective Inorganic Pigments
Ashwini Krishna Bendiganavale and Vinod C. Malshe
[Full
Text Article]
Solar energy is essential for human race. It spreads itself
thin on the entire surface of the globe. The large buildings,
which are now essential for the world’s growing population,
need to be made comfortable for its residents. In certain
parts of the year these radiations are not required for the
comfort of the residents. If the buildings are allowed to
receive these radiations, the expenditure of cooling is excessive.
Coatings that reflect the infrared radiation in the near IR
region responsible for heat from the solar radiation are formulated
with special pigments. In the present paper, patents devoted
to preparation of these pigments have been reviewed. Some
research work carried out at University Institute of Chemical
Technology has also been included. It has been found that
there are no theories to predict the infrared reflectivity
of a pigment and the best way to find one is to scan the available
pigments for their IR reflectivity.
[Back to top]
Recent Innovations in Turbulent Mixing with Static
Elements
Alessandro Paglianti
[Full
Text Article]
Static Mixer consists of a number of stationary mixing
elements inserted along the direction of flow in a pipe. Each
mixing element allows to divide the flow and to recombine
it in a geometric sequence.
A lot of static mixers are now available, e.g. Sulzer SMV
and SMI, Chemineer KM, the Kenics HEV. These products differ
quite considerably and the construction have effects on the
manufacturing costs and also on the costs for the inbuilt
the mixers in a plant. These well known motionless mixers
allow to obtain good performances but usually the mixing length
necessary for obtaining the homogeneity is longer than 5-10
pipe diameters. Another important constrain is the maximum
permissible pressure loss in the operation.
In the recent years, new products composed of a minimum number
of elements, have been launched. These new products have a
short inbuilt device length, they require a short mixing path
and they have low pressure drops. This review analyzes the
behaviour of these new innovative static mixers.
|