Sam Baker

Jan 16, 2025 | thechemicalengineer.com | Sam Baker

MORE than five tonnes of fusion-grade steel have been produced using an electric-powered furnace in Middlesbrough, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) announced last week. It is the first time the metal has been produced to high enough strength to withstand the extreme temperatures and neutron radiation of nuclear fusion reactors at an industrial scale.

Jan 13, 2025 | thechemicalengineer.com | Sam Baker

BILLIONAIRE chairman of Ineos Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said the UK’s chemicals industry faces “extinction”, following the company’s closure of its ethanol plant in Grangemouth last week. Ratcliffe blamed the Scottish plant’s closure on what he called the UK’s “lack of energy strategy” as well as high energy prices. He added that the UK’s emissions trading scheme has effectively served as a tax on UK producers, favouring imported products from countries without such a scheme.

Jan 8, 2025 | thechemicalengineer.com | Sam Baker

EMISSIONS of ultra-potent greenhouse gases are much higher than official reported figures suggest, according to a recent study. Researchers at the University of Bristol, UK, have found that global emissions of the greenhouse gas HFC-23 are five times greater than official figures reported by governments. One expert described unreported emissions of the gas as a “major problem” in the fight against global warming. HFC-23 is a greenhouse gas 14,700 times more potent than CO2.

Dec 4, 2024 | thechemicalengineer.com | Sam Baker

TOKYO University researchers have discovered some of the conditions that cause human cells in embryo development to transform from solid to liquid. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at what the researchers call “squishy grains” – small objects which on their own can change shape and within a larger group can change position. Human cells are classed as squishy grains.

Dec 2, 2024 | thechemicalengineer.com | Sam Baker

RESEARCHERS in the US have developed a new water filtration design based on the feeding system in types of stingray. The new design, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses a 3D-printed model of the plates that mobula rays use to feed on plankton. Mobula rays – the family of stingrays which includes manta rays and devil rays – inhale water as they swim, filtering out plankton to feed on. The excess water is then ejected out through its gills.