AI: Educating the Educators
The Chemeca conference in Australia had more questions than answers on how AI should best be harn...
Features
The Challenges of Eliminating Nitrous Oxide from the Water Sector
Nitrous oxide emissions from water resource recovery facilities have long been under-estimated sa...
Wastewater Breakthrough
Engineers from Severn Trent and AtkinsRealis explain how applying novel process engineering tec...
Drink it in
Martin Pitt looks back on the history of drinking water and chemical engineers’ contribution to it
Milestone Issues
Adam Duckett reflects on TCE’s milestone issue
IChemE Matters: 'The Profession's View of the Profession'
Alexandra Meldrum introduces IChemE’s member-consulted report, “Engineering a Sustainable World –...
Go Big, Start Now
Adam Duckett on why solving the world’s grand challenges needs even grander vision – and how you ...
IChemE takes centre stage at the Process and Chemical Engineering Show this May
The ChemUK 2024 Expo will return on 15 and 16 May at the NEC in Birmingham. Running as part of th...
Fresh Nanotech Solutions to a Freshwater Problem
With fresh water in limited supply, ensuring water security is a global challenge demanding urgen...
Book Review: Chemical Engineering Process Simulation, 2nd Edition
Dominic Foo; ISBN: 9780323901680; Elsevier; €122.08; 2022
Volunteer Spotlight: Cameron Langford AMIChemE
Shining a light on the valuable work of IChemE volunteers
Our Research Focus: Achieving Zero Harmful Discharge to Sea
Benaiah Anabaraonye discusses the Danish Offshore Technology Centre’s role in developing and acce...
Engineering Net Zero Part 5: Consuming the Planet's Resources
David Simmonds explores the picnic basket of our energy transition, our increasing dependency on ...
The Rise of AI
Adam Duckett on the rise of artificial intelligence
Our Research Focus: Securing the future of water
Kariappa Karumbaiah explains how Hydroxsys hopes to place innovative membrane technology at the...
Wastewater Treatment: When Renting Might be the Better Option
Plant operators are increasingly looking at ways to improve the efficiency and reliability of the...
A Wasted Life
Martin Pitt reflects on the history of the waste industry, including his own experiences
Pore Performance: One 3D-printing firm's ambition to re-engineer membranes
Adam Duckett interviews Tom Pugh and Andrew Walker about Evove’s push to improve separations
Safety is my job: Sophie Horne
Robin Turney speaks to Sophie Horne about her role in the water industry
Troubled Waters and Systems Thinking
Adam Duckett on low-water marks and engineering highly-complex systems
Question Time: Food & Water
IN the sixth webinar of IChemE’s Centenary series, experts discuss how chemical engineering can ...
Food & Water: Using Water Smarter
Amanda Jasi reports on a project that aims to introduce circular symbiotic arrangements between i...
Food & Water: Water from Unconventional Resources
With clean water scarcity a major problem, Kerry Hebden looks at unconventional options for obtai...
Question Time: Built Environment & Transport
A panel of experts speaking at IChemE’s Centenary webinar urged attendees to think and work toget...
Book Review: People, Planet, Profit: Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Businesses
Kit Oung; ISBN: 9781637421819; Business Expert Press; 2022; US$17.99
Energy: Hydrogen from offshore wind
Amanda Doyle speaks to Widya Wahyuni about using wind to power seawater electrolysis
Centenary Themes: Energy
At-a-glance information on what's in the fourth of our centenary theme specials
Question Time: Social Experience
Chemical engineers gather to discuss how the profession can help shape a better future
Centenary Themes: Social Experience
At-a-glance information on what's in the third of our centenary theme specials
Book Review: Natural Polymers-Based Green Adsorbents for Water Treatment
Editor: Susheel Kalia; ISBN: 9780128205419; Elsevier; 2021; €152.60
Taking on Water
Sofia Georgaki describes her role as Process Lead at engineering major Jacobs.
Nitrate: An Emerging Solution
Jonathan Wright and colleagues explain how their IChemE Award-winning ion exchange and encapsul...
Working in Water
Amanda Lake talks about her work in the municipal water sector, in water and wastewater treatment.
Webinar: Deliver your project on time and in budget – secure treated water
ON 6 October, The Chemical Engineer hosted a webinar to discuss the practical advantages of using...
Industrial Cyber Attacks on the Rise
Adam Duckett discusses the rising threat of cyber attacks
From Wastewater to Resource
Khor Bee Chin discusses plans to reclaim precious resources from the wastewater that goes down th...
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Then and Now
Geoff Gill reviews how the accident played out, and the huge engineering challenges involved in m...
Fukushima in Numbers
The Fukushima disaster in numbers
Brewing Up Energy
Constantine Tsounis, Bijil Subhash, and Khushal Polepalle chart their journey from undergrad desi...
Turning Points for IX
John Bewsey describes a new ion exchange process for cleaning up acid mines and brackish water
Pure and Simple
Miguel Johansson Finguerut describes his work on community water projects in central Mexico
Pyrolysis Gets Personal
Adam Duckett visits the workshop of Nik Spencer to understand more about a pyrolysis unit that ...
Triumph Out of Adversity
Mohamed Azlan Hussain and Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua explain how a natural disaster led to demonst...
Just Add Water
Hugh Thomas looks at the challenge of ensuring resilient and wholesome water supplies
Hot Water
A bright future awaits chemengers in the water industry, say Richard Hill and Chris Short
Going Digital for Water
How digital measurement is making waves in water and wastewater treatment
Keep it All In: How to Bund with Confidence
Kevin Wheeler explains bunding’s vital role and offers a practical summary of issues to consider ...
Go With the Flow
Gordon Varney and Lydia Gaunt explain how to select pumps in the water, wastewater and sewage in...
Stripping Ammonia in Anaerobic Digesters
Robert Eden discusses thermal stripping in Hong Kong
Answering the Call of Nature
Dyllon Randall explains how bio-bricks can be grown from human urine
Water for the pharmaceutical industry
IChemE’s Water Special Interest Group (SIG) celebrated 30 years of existence at its Water for the...
Developing Policies: What Can We Do?
Increasing chemical engineering contributions to sustainable policy development: an Australian ...
Nereda: Redefining Effluent Treatment
There is a new player in the wastewater process sector, re-writing the rules of the game
Strathclyde to Uganda
A Strathclyde students' project to help supply clean water to rural areas in Uganda
Brownfield and Beyond
Innovation is needed to develop systems to identify problems before they occur
Making a Dent in the Water Crisis
Developing a centuries-old idea to provide clean drinking water
Shale Gas: Friend or Foe?
An overview of the scientific and technical challenges that have surfaced because of shale gas
A South African Challenge
Mobilising chemical engineering resources to mitigate drought
Solar-Powered Water Purification Wins Top Prize
Helen Tunnicliffe reviews the winners of IChemE’s annual awards programme
Clean Drinking Water Appeal
IChemE's Water SIG needs your help to raise money to fund a clean drinking water project in Cambo...
Something in the water
Managing the safe discharge of active pharmaceutical ingredients during drug production
In Orbit
Astronaut Donald Pettit talks to Adam Duckett about his life and work
Turning Ocean Trash into Cash
Project turns plastic waste in the sea into vehicle fuels
Smarter Water Technologies
With water accessibility increasingly under threat, technology leads the mining industry's effort...
News
US researchers design water filtration system based on manta rays
RESEARCHERS in the US have developed a new water filtration design based on the feeding system in...
Veolia to build Africa’s largest seawater desalination project
FRENCH utilities giant Veolia has struck a deal to develop Africa’s largest seawater desalination...
Update: Anochrome Ltd admits spilling toxic chemical into Walsall canal
ANOCHROME LTD, a company that provides electroplating and coatings, has said it is the source of ...
Three UK water companies face £168m fines for sewage spills
Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, and Northumbrian Water face hefty fines after a “catalogue of fail...
Veolia sells sulfuric acid regen business for US$620m
VEOLIA has sold its North American sulfuric acid regeneration business to private equity group Am...
Taking the P out of pee
ENGINEERS at the University of Surrey are investigating how phosphorous can be filtered from huma...
Every water and wastewater company in England and Wales under investigation for sewage spills
OFWAT is now investigating all 11 water and wastewater companies in England and Wales for wastewa...
Birmingham students win Davidson Inventors Challenge for ‘forever chemical’ removal process
TEAM Breaking Bonds, a group of Year 11 students from King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, ...
Engineers urge UK action on sewage to guard against sickness outbreaks
IMMEDIATE action to bolster maintenance of the sewage system and sensors to allow real-time monit...
Australian minerals and hydrogen research gets A$59m funding boost
A FLOATING device that uses sunlight to produce hydrogen from wastewater and a leaching process a...
3M to pay water companies up to US$12.5bn over PFAS contamination
3M will pay US public water companies up to US$12.5bn to tackle PFAS, after a district court gave...
Water companies’ £180m sewerage investment must target ‘those responsible for the largest polluting flows’
WATER expert Tom Stephenson says it is vital that water companies target the worst polluting rele...
Water scarcity competition offers US$119m incentive to rethink desalination
XPRIZE has launched a five-year competition aimed at improving large-scale clean water access.
Southern Water fined £330,000 after stream pollution killed 2,000 fish
A UK court has fined Southern Water £330,000 (US$416,748) for a raw sewage leak in July 2019 that...
COP28 deal: a starting gun fired for the end of fossil fuels?
COUNTRIES have agreed at the COP28 climate conference to transition away from fossil fuels and tr...
Solar-powered dryers and greener electric car batteries among £1m Earthshot winners
A BATTERY that uses a water-soluble binding composite to make it easy to recycle, and solar techn...
Welsh Water admits illegally spilling sewage at dozens of treatment plants for years
WELSH WATER has admitted to spilling untreated sewage at dozens of treatment plants for years. Da...
ExxonMobil gambles US$60bn on shale oil buyout
EXXONMOBIL has placed a US$60bn bet on US shale oil with the purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources.
Prince William unveils third class of Earthshot Prize finalists leading the way in climate change solutions
A GREENER and more easily recycled lithium-ion battery, a microbial fuel cell for cleaning water ...
Aquaporin partners with PUB to install its biomimetic membranes in NEWater facilities
WATER technology company Aquaporin has announced it is working with Singapore's National Water Ag...
United Utilities fined £800,000 for illegally removing water from the environment
UNITED UTILITIES, a water and wastewater services provider, has been fined £800,000 (US$1m) for i...
Engineering options that can prevent sewer overflows
WITH industry forced to apologise for dumping untreated sewage into rivers, changes upstream incl...
Lummus Technologies acquires water and wastewater treatment technologies from Siemens Energy
LUMMUS Technologies has acquired water and wastewater treatment technologies from Siemens Energy ...
US moves to restrict PFAS chemicals in drinking water
IN WHAT is described as a major step forward in protecting public health, the US Environmental Pr...
UKWIR calls for help in creating GHG accounting tool for water industry
UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) is calling for expressions of interest to deliver a new versio...
UKWIR provides free access to hundreds of water sector research reports
UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) has launched MyLibrary, an online facility that provides easy ...
Partners successfully test UK’s first 3D-printed concrete water chamber
UNITED Utilities and its partner, 3D mortar printing company ChangeMaker3D (CM3D), have successfu...
Fukushima bosses ordered to pay billions for failing to prevent nuclear disaster
FOUR former bosses of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have been ordered by a Tokyo court to p...
Plant-based alternative to plastic microbeads set for scaleup
ENGINEERS have received funding to scale up a technology that produces sustainable alternatives t...
Student team’s water sterilisation system wins sustainability competition
A TEAM of school students who designed a solar water sterilisation system has won this year’s Dav...
IPCC calls for stronger adaptation to worsening climate hazards
THE IPCC has said that human-caused climate change is already resulting in detrimental effects on...
Solenis sold and merged with Sigura
SPECIALTY chemicals firm Solenis has merged with Sigura following its completed sale by BASF.
Clean TeQ Water wins top accolade at IChemE Awards
A WASTEWATER treatment process that uses bacteria immobilised in plastic lenses has been awarded ...
Water experts issue call to action on climate
AN alliance of experts from across the water sector, including from IChemE, has issued a call to ...
IAEA reviews Fukushima water release
OFFICIALS from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have visited Japan to review the pla...
UK regulator relaxes effluent rules as water treatment firms begin running out of chemicals
A SHORTAGE of chemicals used to treat wastewater in the UK has led the Environment Agency to rela...
Johnson Matthey set targets to lower waste and improve safety on journey to net zero
JOHNSON MATTHEY has announced targets to heavily focus its sales and R&D spend in line with UN Su...
Novel sponge tech collects oil in ultra-cold waters
RESEARCHERS in Canada and the UK have developed a coating for commercially-available sponges that...
TEPCO to flush Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific
THE Japanese Government will allow TEPCO to discharge treated wastewater stored at the Fukushima ...
Veolia agrees deal for Suez, merging world’s largest water firms
VEOLIA has agreed a deal to buy its rival Suez, ending a fraught takeover battle that merges the ...
Wastewater leak causes concern for Florida marine life
ENVIRONMENTALISTS are concerned about the impacts on marine life after days of leakage of contami...
£40m water challenge to launch in May
6 May will see the first round of a new £40m (US$55.2m) collaborative competition expected to enc...
New bacterium can improve wastewater treatment
A NEWLY-discovered bacterium strain could be used to remove nitrogen and phosphorous from sewage ...
Competition launched to encourage innovative ideas in water industry
A COMPETITION has been launched in England and Wales to seek innovative responses to challenges i...
Four killed in explosion at UK water treatment site
FOUR people have died and another has been injured in an explosion at a UK water treatment works.
Water UK unveils plan to reach 2030 net zero target
FOLLOWING its announcement earlier this year that it was setting a target to be net zero by 2030,...
Partnership forms Australia’s first biomethane-to-gas project
ENERGY infrastructure company Jemena has entered a partnership with Sydney Water to inject biomet...
Partners plan membrane-free electrolyser production in Northern Ireland
CLEAN Power Hydrogen (CPH2) has formed a joint venture to manufacture its membrane-free electroly...
New produced water recycling facility constructed in Permian Basin
BREAKWATER Energy Partners, which supplies water supply chain solutions to oilfields, has announc...
UK heat network projects awarded £25m
FOUR heat network projects have been awarded almost £25m (US$31.6m) of funding, in the third roun...
TEPCO proposes methods to dispose of treated water stored at Fukushima
TEPCO, Japan’s largest power company group, has released a report which outlines two potential me...
UK water industry sets 2030 net zero target
WATER UK has announced that it will develop plans to achieve net zero emissions across the water ...
US EPA relaxes policy, citing coronavirus pandemic
THE US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced temporary policy that will allow non-c...
Vale to begin disposing of mining waste from fatal Brazil dam collapse
MINING giant Vale is to begin disposing of the mine tailings from the fatal collapse of one of it...
Vale to invest in technology to reduce dam use and increase safety
BRAZILIAN mining giant Vale is to invest in technology to reduce tailings dam use and increase op...
Innovative sponge for offshore oil drilling wastewater cleanup
RESEARCHERS at Imperial College London, UK and the University of Toronto (UoT), Canada have devel...
Vale launches project to recover area affected by fatal dam collapse
BRAZILIAN mining giant Vale has launched a pilot project for the environmental recovery of the ar...
DuPont buys out UCD spinout OxyMem
DUPONT has bought out OxyMem, a wastewater technology company that was spun out of University Col...
Several factors led to fatal Brazil dam collapse, reports expert panel
AN expert panel commissioned by Brazilian mining giant Vale has concluded that a number of factor...
Prince William launches Earthshot Prize to repair the planet
PRINCE WILLIAM has launched a new initiative, billed as the world’s most prestigious environmenta...
Communication troubles are holding back UK biotech
ENGINEERING biology must learn to communicate better if the breakout discipline is to achieve its...
Cheap catalyst for hydrogen production shows commercial-scale promise
RESEARCHERS have shown for the first time that a cheap catalyst can be used to split water for hy...
IChemE Member Mandy Lester wins 2019 Karen Burt Award
MANDY LESTER, Chartered Member of IChemE, has won the 2019 Karen Burt Award for her commitment to...
Carlsberg to halve water usage at Danish brewery
BREWING company Carlsberg has announced investment in a state-of-the-art water recycling plant th...
Removing pharmaceutical pollutants from wastewater
NOURYON and Van Remmen UV Technology have teamed up to combine their technologies to remove pharm...
Behold the Plastic Age: synthetic fibres found in fossil record
GEOLOGISTS could one day determine the age of rocks by measuring the amount of plastic found in s...
Food, fuel and drug supplies at no-deal Brexit risk, Government warns
THE UK Government has warned in a document it has been forced to disclose that a no-deal Brexit c...
Australia investigates building its largest hydrogen production plant
QUEENSLAND Government-owned power generation company Stanwell is spending A$5m (US$3.4m) to study...
Novel process for damage-free algae biomass harvesting
RESEARCHERS at the University of Tsukuba, Japan have developed a novel, damage-free process for r...
New approach for desalinating hypersaline brines
USING a temperature-dependent solvent to desalinate water with high concentrations of dissolved s...
Cattle feed and dye membranes win MIT water prize
ENTREPRENEURS who are developing process technologies to remove dyes from industrial wastewater a...
Removing oil from produced water
A PROCESS has been developed that can remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water.
Update: 78 confirmed dead after Chinese chemicals plant explosion
ON 25 March the death toll following an explosion at a Chinese chemicals plant rose to 78, report...
Brazil dam in critical alert
ON 22 March Vale raised the alert level of its Sul Superior Dam of the Gongo Soco mine located in...
Nouryon and Gasunie to supply ‘green’ hydrogen for methanol production
NOURYON and Gasunie have agreed to supply ‘green’ hydrogen to BioMCN for renewable methanol produ...
Novel water treatment pilot plant
RESEARCHERS in Singapore are to build a pilot membrane filtration plant to treat industrial waste...
Creating useful products from desalination waste
ENGINEERS at MIT, US have proposed a method that could use desalination waste to produce useful c...
Fatal dam breach in Brazil leaves hundreds missing
A TAILINGS dam in Brazil has collapsed, leaving a reported 16 people dead and 297 missing. Other ...
Climeworks pioneering air-captured CO2 for drinks carbonation
COCA-COLA HBC Switzerland has teamed up with Climeworks to pioneer the use of air-captured carbon...
Novel particles for photocatalytic water treatment
RESEARCHERS at Rice University, US, have developed novel micrometre-sized, titanium dioxide (TiO2...
Bloomberg hosts second London sustainability summit
THROUGHOUT history, industries have either fought change or embraced it. Now, with the global thr...
ExxonMobil to contribute US$10m to the Singapore Energy Centre partnership
EXXONMOBIL has announced that it will be contributing US$10m to the Singapore Energy Centre. The ...
A membrane technology breakthrough
RESEARCHERS from the Livingston Group at Imperial College London, UK, in collaboration with BP, h...
Consortium bails out Singapore water treatment firm Hyflux
TROUBLED Singapore water treatment firm Hyflux has been rescued by a S$530m (US$384m) investment ...
Improving water purification
A NEW, multi-university research centre, headquartered at the US' University of Texas at Austin (...
Drax in talks to acquire Scottish Power assets
DRAX, the UK power company, has entered talks to discuss acquiring Scottish Power energy assets f...
Pulling oil from water
ENGINEERS at Rice University, US, in conjunction with Shell Global Solutions, have developed magn...
US invests in water treatment research projects
The US Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees water resource management, has announced that it wil...
Uranium: Under the sea
LCW Supercritical Technologies and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have taken a mile...
‘Green’ high-tech dye synthesis
RESEARCHERS at TU Wien, Austria, have discovered a novel, highly efficient, ‘green’ method of syn...
Membrane filters out antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wastewater
A TECHNIQUE has been developed combining a photocatalytic membrane and UV light to remove most an...
Picky porous electrodes take out toxins
RESEARCHERS at Rice University, US, are developing a novel water treatment technology to selectiv...
Circular hydraulic jump not caused by gravity
A FLUID mechanics phenomenon commonly seen when tap water hits a sink, and first observed by Leon...
South Africa and Japan cooperate on water management
SOUTH Africa and Japan have signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) in the field of water resour...
Nestlé reduces water consumption in South African dairy factory
NESTLÉ South Africa is transforming its Mossel Bay dairy factory into a “zero water” site by re-u...
SUEZ agrees to help improve water treatment at Rosneft sites
SUEZ has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Rosneft to improve water and wastewater pr...
First solar-powered desalination plant for South Africa
The first solar-powered desalination plant in South Africa will convert sea water into fresh water.
Report warns of significant water shortages for England by 2050
AN Environmental Agency report has warned that leaking pipes, water wastage, population growth, a...
BASF and Solenis combine paper and water chemicals businesses
BASF has announced that it will combine its paper wet-end and water chemicals business with Solen...
Water purification using sunlight and hydrogel
A WATER purification method has been developed that uses sunlight along with an inexpensive gel, ...
Exxon’s algae biofuel venture enters new phase, targeting 10,000 bbl/d
EXXONMOBIL and biotech pioneer Synthetic Genomics are starting field trails for their joint algae...
Developing a safe and efficient method for the removal of micropollutants from water
A RESEARCHER at the University of Bath, UK, has been awarded a grant to develop the photocatalysi...
Extracting lithium from water using synthetic membranes
A metal-organic framework (MOF) has been developed that can extract lithium from water, which cou...
UK launches 25-year plastic waste plan
THE UK government has launched a 25-year plan to protect the environment and reduce “avoidable” p...
Catalyst turns nitrate pollution into water and N2
RESEARCHERS at Rice University, US, have developed a nanoparticle catalyst that converts hazardou...
Cheap paper sensor detects water impurities
A MULTIDISCIPINARY research team from the University of Bath, UK, has developed a cheap, sustaina...
University of Leeds team wins Water SIG prize
A TEAM from the University of Leeds has won the inaugural Young Process Engineer Prize set up by ...
Wood improves solar steam generation
POROUS wood from trees like poplar and pine could be used for an efficient, biodegradable water p...
Detecting water leaks with ‘smart paper’
A SMART paper laced with conductive nanomaterials could be used to easily locate water leaks in a...
EU launches €6m project to valorise jellyfish
A PROJECT seeking to explore turning jellyfish blooms into new products such as biofilters, ferti...
Putting human waste to good use
NUTRIENTS, energy and water will be safely recovered from the faeces and urine of up to 1,000 peo...
2D materials with ‘smallest possible’ holes sieve salt from seawater
RESEARCHERS at the University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute (NGI) have assembled me...
Removing silica from power plant water
COOLING tower water could be reused and recycled ten or more times by using a new silica-removing...
An olive branch for a circular economy
RESEARCHERS have piloted a process to turn a waste stream from olive oil manufacture into biofuel...
Filtering fracking water for reuse
A SUPERHYDROPHILIC filter has been shown to remove 90% of hydrocarbons, bacteria, and particulate...
Biodiesel: The tip of the fatberg
A GIANT “fatberg” made of congealed insoluble matter will be converted into 10,000 L of biodiesel...
£1m project to field-test graphene water filters
UK-BASED G2O Water Technologies is to scale up production and field-test its patented graphene ox...
Taking BPA out of water
RESEARCHERS have described a quick and cheap technique that they say removes 99% of toxic bisphen...
Wessex Water and Bath trial algae treatment
WESSEX WATER and the University of Bath, UK, are trialling the use of algae farms to reduce the n...
New way to clean water in developing world
A MULTIDISCIPLINARY team at the University of Bath, UK, is developing a new portable, cheap and e...
Consider treating unused desal filters
A BIOFOULING study that has examined colonies of bacteria on membranes suggests desalination plan...
