Decaffeination is the process of removing caffeine from materials such as coffee beans, tea leaves, kola nuts and cocoa beans.  Over the years, dozens of decaffeination methods have been developed and tested, and some have been commercialized with varying degrees of success.  Most of these methods fall into one of the following three categories: 

DME Clean Energy Pty. Ltd. (DMECE) intends to develop a new opportunity for the struggling Australian brown coal industry.  The company has asked Unitel to design an enhanced process for making DME from brown coal mined in the State of Victoria.  With a prevailing price of $7 per ton for brown coal, the underlying economics of this business are exceptionally attractive. 

The term polycarbonate refers to polymers with functional groups linked together by carbonate groups in a long molecular chain.  Compared to most other plastics, polycarbonates offer incredible strength, exceptional durability, excellent transparency and light weight – one-sixth as heavy as glass – properties that position these materials between commodity and engineered plastics. 

In May of 2010, Unitel delivered the first of its latest computer-controlled catalyst testing and evaluation systems – CTS Version 8, the Octave – to the University of Louisville’s Conn Center for Renewable Research and Environmental Stewardship (CCRRES).  According to Dr. Paul Ratnasamy, Professor at CCRRES, initial experiments with the Octave will focus on catalytic conversion of waste oils into fuels. Following that, Paul intends to test custom catalysts for making fuel alcohols from synthesis gas. 

This project has an interesting background.  While urban areas in Korea have ready access to natural gas through a network of pipelines, businesses and families in many rural and remote parts of the country have to depend upon liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders for their heating and cooking applications.  Much of the LPG sold in Korea is imported.