Commercial debut for a new olefins-production process
Last month, KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) was awarded a license and process-design-package contract for a new…
Commentary
Fight formaldehyde litigation
(From November 2011, Letters) Perhaps enough has been written about the questionable science underlying recent…
In The News
Chementator
A polarizable membrane for improved energy storage
The two basic energy-storage devices — dielectric and double-layer capacitors — entail serious limitations. Dielectric…
Making formic acid by artificial photosynthesis
For the first time, an organic compound has been synthesized from water, carbon dioxide and…
World’s highest-purity lithium plant announces commercial launch
A facility that produces high-purity lithium carbonate for use in the growing market for electrolytes…
Supercritical water process converts biomass to sugars
Sugar is a critical feedstock for many emerging bio-based-chemical and biofuel processes, but harvesting sugar…
November Chementator Briefs
New block copolymer Nexar is the tradename of a block copolymer product recently commercialized…
Predictive process control at a refinery wastewater treatment plant
To date, the difficult-to-treat contaminants and their related biological inhibition in petroleum refinery wastewater have…
A new catalyst for asymmetric-transfer-hydrogenation reactions
The Fine Chemicals div. of Takasago International Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.takasago.com) has commercialized Deneb: Oxo-Tethered…
New catalyst allows lower-temperature waste destruction
Base-catalyzed decomposition (BCD) is a commercially used process developed in the early 1990s by the…
Thin-film membranes promise a dramatic reduction in energy use
Researchers at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul; www.umn.edu) have produced thin-film zeolite membranes that…
Business News
Another propane dehydrogenation award for UOP in China
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, has been selected by Zhejiang Shaoxing…
Topsøe: Two SNOX plants for Petrobras
Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) has signed an agreement with the Brazilian oil company…
Jacobs awarded contract by El Dorado Chemical
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) announced today its Chemetics unit in Pickering, Ontario,…
UOP expands offering to include Twister’s separation technology
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, says it will expand its portfolio…
Uhde acquires Otto Corp. in Japan
As part of its drive to expand its market presence in the field of coke…
Solvay acquires Orbeo
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) announced today it is acquiring Société Générale's equity interest in…
BIS Group acquires Neo Group
With the acquisition of the Neo Group (Surat, India), Bilfinger Berger Industrial Services Group (BIS…
WorleyParsons: Project management consultancy contract for Ecuador refinery
WorleyParsons Ltd. (North Sydney, Australia; www.worleyparsons.com) has been awarded a contract for the project management…
BASF creates new global business unit to advance battery activities for electromobility
In recognition of the significant growth opportunity associated with the global battery marketplace, BASF SE…
Air Liquide invests in new ASU in China
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec; Beijing, China; www.sinopec.com.cn)…
AkzoNobel to invest €45 million in DCP plant at Ningbo
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) has announced its intention to invest €45 million in a…
Outotec to deliver copper smelting and converting technology to China
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been awarded a contract by Guangxi Jinchuan Non-Ferrous Metals…
Praxair to supply new Uruguayan pulp mil
Praxair Uruguay, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com), has signed a 15-year contract…
Japanese firms plan large fertilizer plant in Angola
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) and Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan;…
Bechtel awarded $3.9-billion contract for Sabine Pass LNG expansion
Bechtel Corp. (Frederick, Md.; www.bechtel.com) has been selected by Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. to provide…
UOP technology to clean natural gas on FPSO vessels in Brazil
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, announced today that Modec, Inc. has…
Lanxess acquires U.S. biocide specialist Verichem
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany) is strengthening its portfolio of biocides with the acquisition of Verichem…
Cristal Global announces TiO2-industry partnership with Outotec
Cristal Global (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; www.cristalglobal.com), one of the leading vertically integrated titanium-chemicals companies in…
Siemens to acquire Vistagy
Siemens AG (Munich, Germany; www.siemens.com) expands its industrial software portfolio with the acquisition of Vistagy,…
Outotec receives additional orders from the Russian Petropavlovsk Group
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has signed two additional contracts for detail engineering and delivery…
Fluor acquires sulfur technology company
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) has made a niche acquisition of Goar, Allison & Associates,…
Outotec process technology for copper-molybdenum project in Chile
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has signed a contract with Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. for…
Jacobs awarded contract for Sadara
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management…
SNC-Lavalin awarded major oil-sands project in Alberta
SNC-Lavalin, Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has been awarded a major contract by a major oil…
Bechtel providing EPC services for California Valley Solar Ranch
Bechtel (Frederick, Md.; www.bechtel.com) has received full notice to proceed for construction of the California…
Fluor receives full notice to proceed on contracts for Conga mine project in Peru
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced today that the company's Mining business received a full…
Outotec signs ferrochrome plant delivery agreement with TISCO JV in China
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Shanxi Taigang Wanbang Furnace Charge Co. —…
Evonik acquires the Pharmaceuticals business of SurModics
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has reached an agreement to acquire the Pharmaceuticals business…
PPG to increase global production capacity for precipitated silica and other business news
Plant Watch ColBiocel selects Chemtex technology for ethanol production in Colombia September 26, 2011…
Technical & Practical
Modern Concepts in Makeup Water Treatment
Water and steam are vital components of virtually all plants in the chemical process industries…
Selecting Oil-Mist Systems
For decades, plant-wide oil-mist systems have been used to lubricate rolling-element bearings in high-speed applications…
Piping: Minimizing the Risk of 'Pre-buys'
To stay on budget, major capital projects often call for aggressive schedules. Engineering, procurement and…
Energy Benchmarking
In today’s climate of increased energy prices and tightening environmental emissions requirements, petrochemicals producers around…
Control Valve Diagnostics
The benefits of field-device diagnostics are often acclaimed in qualitative terms, but on a much…
Energy Optimization Using Pinch Analysis
Pinch analysis is a systematic method to maximize energy recovery from process streams entering and…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Level Measurement Devices
Effective level measurement helps ensure smooth, continuous processes by maintaining material inventory at economic quantities,…