Making graphene oxide in ‘a microwave’
Microwave irradiation of graphite has been shown to produce graphene oxide with 90% yield by…
Commentary
Lessons learned
Back in the 1980s when teaching a physical chemistry (P-chem) laboratory at Gannon University, I…
Ruptured rupture disc
It was Terry Thurber’s idea. It was a bad idea. But Bob Miller and Nick…
In The News
Chementator
A renewable source for methane
Conventional methanation — the reaction of CO and H2 (synthesis gas) to form methane —…
Making cork-like monoliths from graphene
A team from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) has prepared graphene monoliths with a cork-like…
A recipe for improved Ti extraction from ilmenite
Existing metallurgical processes for titanium production from ilmenite — by far the most sought-after titanium…
A step toward mineralizing CO2 captured from fluegas
Researchers from Newcastle University (U.K.; www.ncl.ac.uk) have discovered that, in the presence of a nickel…
Replacing a pressurization blower with a turbocharger reduces energy use
Reductions in power consumption by over 30% have been observed at a full-scale formaldehyde production…
A cheaper way to destroy organic contaminants?
An ultraviolet oxidation process for the destruction of water-borne organic contaminants that combines UV with…
March Chementator Briefs
Microelectrode Although antimony electrodes have been used for decades to measure pH, they only…
A continuous process to make graphene
An inexpensive and scalable process that uses supercritical (SC) liquids to make large quantities of…
A bi-metallic nanocluster catalyst for highly selective asymmetric C–C formation
Shu Kobayashi and his research group at the University of Tokyo (Japan; www.chem.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/users/synorg/index_e.html) have developed…
Business News
Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works and Davy announce the acceptance of a methanol plant in China
China Petrochemical International Ltd. (Sinopec International), Sinopec Sichuan Vinylon Works (SVW) and Davy Process Technology…
ThyssenKrupp to build complete cement plant in Indonesia
ThyssenKrupp Polysius has won a contract from PT Holcim Indonesia Tbk., Jakarta, to build a…
UOP PDH technology selected by Williams for propylene plant in Canada
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, says that its UOP C3 Oleflex…
ICIG kicks off €53-million investment at PPC in Thann
PPC (Thann, France; www.ppchemicals.com), a company of WeylChem Group (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.weylchem.com), the…
Uhde Inventa-Fischer commissions polyamide 6 plant for JSC Grodno Azot PTC Khimvolokno
Uhde Inventa-Fischer (Domat/Ems, Switzerland; www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com) and JSC Grodno Azot PTC Khimvolokno (Belarus) have successfully commissioned…
Outotec cooperates with Maschinenfabrik Köppern to expand its comminution products
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Maschinenfabrik Köppern GmbH & Co. KG (Hattingen,…
CB&I to acquire gasification technology from Phillips
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) says it has entered into an agreement with Phillips 66…
AkzoNobel plans further investment in China
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) says it intends to invest a further €65 million in…
DSM acquires light-trapping technology for solar modules
Royal DSM (www.dsm.com), the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, today announces that it…
UOP’s C3 Oleflex process selected for propylene production in China
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, has been selected to provide technology to…
Primozone and Ozone Water Systems: U.S. strategic partnership agreement
Primozone Production AB (Löddeköpinge, Sweden; www.primozone.com) and Ozone Water Systems, Inc. (OWS; Phoenix, Ariz.; www.ozonewatersystems.com),…
Toyo awarded synthetic resin project in Texas
Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) has been awarded a contract to construct a…
CB&I awarded PDH contract in Korea
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) announced today that it has been awarded a contract by…
Samsung Engineering signs its first deal in Azerbaijan with Socar fertilizer award
Samsung Engineering Co. (Seoul, South Korea; www.samsungengineering.co.kr) signed a contract, worth $650 million (€498 million),…
Ube establishes JV for synthetic rubber production in Malaysia
Ube Industries, Ltd. (Ube; Tokyo, Japan; www.ube-ind.co.jp) has established a joint venture (JV) with Lotte…
Toyo awarded refinery modernization contract in Tatarstan
Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) has been awarded a contract with TAIF-NK (Nizhnekamsk,…
BASF to start up new FCC catalysts testing and research laboratory in Heidelberg
BASF Corp. (Iselin, N.J.; www.basf.com) has announced that it will start-up a new multi-million euro…
Davy Process Technology and SEKAB E-Technology form strategic partnership
Davy Process Technology Ltd. (Davy; London, U.K.; www.davyprotech.com), a Johnson Matthey company, and SEKAB (Rotterdam,…
AkzoNobel and Solvay establish a partnership on renewable solvents
Today, international chemical group Solvay SA (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is announcing an agreement to significantly…
Toyo forms bio-pharm business alliance with Middough
Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) recently formed a business alliance with Middough Inc.…
Jacobs awarded contract for sulfuric acid regeneration plant
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) was awarded a contract by Jiangsu Sailboat Petrochemical…
Linde takes over JV OCAP in the Netherlands
The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com), has acquired the remaining shares of its partner Volker…
Pöyry awarded EPCM assignment in a pulp mill project in Brazil
Pöyry Oyj. (Helsinki, Finland; www.poyry.com) has been awarded an assignment by CMPC Celulose Riograndense for…
Ineos and Sinopec form JV agreement for chemical complex in Nanjing
Ineos Phenol (www.ineosphenol.com) and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co. (Sinopec YPC) have today initialled joint venture…
AkzoNobel Chemical Island starts supply to world's biggest single line pulp mill
AkzoNobel's (Amsterdam, The Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) new €90-million Jupiá Chemical Island in Brazil is now operational…
B&W signs contract to begin second phase of FutureGen 2.0 carbon-capture project
The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W; Charlotte, N.C.; www.babcock.com) announced today that its subsidiary, Babcock…
BASF and Markor plan to establish two JVs for BDO and polyTHF in China
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Xinjiang Markor Chemical Industry Co. (Markor; ) plan to…
Lanxess invests €80 million in S-SBR production in Brazil
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is strengthening its standing as the world’s leading producer of…
Trends in polymer processing
Because many of their products go directly to the ultimate end user, polymer and plastic…
Bechtel acquires Chevron's water treatment process and more business news
Plant Watch KBR to provide technology package for ammonia/urea plant in Indonesia February 7, 2013…
Technical & Practical
Runaway Reactions: Ignore the Chemistry at Your Peril
Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables,…
Avoiding Runaway Reactions
Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables,…
Design Safety Instrumented Systems with Relevant Data
Users design safety instrumented systems to bring the risk of identified process hazards to within…
Integrating Gas Turbines Into CPI Facilities
To realize the best possible thermal efficiency, gas turbines should be integrated into chemical process…
Beware of Flow-Accelerated Corrosion
Many chemical process industries (CPI) facilities utilize high-pressure steam generators to produce both electricity and…
Responding to Environmental Inspections
One of the most unsettling experiences in a company’s existence may be the surprise regulatory…
Propylene Production via Metathesis
Propylene is typically considered a co-product in steam crackers and fluid-catalytic-cracking (FCC) processes, which are…
Five Steps to Replacing Aged Heat-Transfer Fluid
Changing out used heat-transfer fluid is critical to the efficiency of a heat-transfer fluid system.…
Corrosion in Flexible Burner Hoses
Piping leakage due to corrosion has the potential to cause catastrophic fires and damage to…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Thermowell Installation
Temperature is among the most critical measurements in the chemical process industries (CPI) for operating…