September Chementator Briefs
Solar steam The Middle East’s first solar enhanced-oil-recovery (EOR) project was recently commissioned by Petroleum…
Commentary
The science of droplets
Many chemical engineers study or employ distillation trays, gas-liquid separators and spray nozzles. Most of…
In The News
Chementator
Some bacteria are not inactivated by ultrasound; here’s why
Although the inactivation of bacteria by high-power ultrasound has been extensively studied, the relationship between…
Ice pigging for the CPI
Launched this month at drinktec (Trade Fair for the Beverage and Liquid Food Industry; September…
A step toward ammonia production at ambient conditions
Many investigations are ongoing to achieve ammonia synthesis at energy-saving mild conditions instead of the…
Ceramic membranes and O3 combine to treat wastewater
High fluxes and micro-contaminant reduction have been achieved in a 2.5-m3/h pilot plant to test…
Non-toxic flame retardants
Researchers from EMPA, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (St. Gallen, Switzerland;…
Spotlight on Petroleum Refining in India
The petroleum refining sector in India plays a vital role in the country’s industrial development…
A one-pot process to pretreat and saccharify biomass
Researchers from the U.S. Dept. of Energys Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI; Emeryville, Calif.; www.jbei.org) have…
Successful implementation of a new extractive-distillation technology for aromatics recovery
AMT International Inc. (Plano, Texas; www.amtintl.com) and LG Chem, Ltd. (Seoul, Korea; www.lgchem.com) have successfully…
Cement technology increases strength and lowers emissions footprint
Cement manufacturing is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions due to two factors: carbon…
A direct, one-step enzymatic hydroxylation of benzene to phenol
The selective, one-step biocatalytic hydroxylation of benzene to phenol — at ambient pressure and temperature…
Business News
Clariant acquires organic pigment business, invests in new plant in China
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) today announced that it has acquired the Organic Pigment business of…
Malvern Instruments acquires NanoSight
Malvern Instruments Ltd (Malvern, U.K.; www.malvern.com), a leading global provider of instrumentation and expertise for…
Solvay to build large bicarbonate plant in Thailand
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) plans to build South-East Asia's largest sodium bicarbonate plant. Located…
Shell Cansolv and Technip to strengthen CO2 capture technology
Shell Cansolv (Montreal, Canada; www.cansolv.com) and Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) have signed an agreement to…
Biesterfeld France Produits SpeÌciaux EURL aquires SMPC Production
Biesterfeld France Produits SpeÌciaux EURL (Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, France), the French subsidiary of Biesterfeld Spezialchemie…
SNC-Lavalin achieves first hot metal on EMAK II project
SNC-Lavalin Inc. (Montreal, Quebec, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) says that Phase II of the Emirates Aluminum Smelter…
BASF announces cash offer to acquire Verenium
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com)says that its U.S. affiliate, BASF Corp., has entered into an…
Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik BTS and Alfa Laval cooperate in millireactor technology
Wendelsheim (Germany), September 18, 2013 – Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik BTS GmbH (EMB; Wendelsheim; www.ehrfeld.com), a subsidiary…
Fauske & Associates opens combustible-dust-hazards testing lab
Fauske & Associates, LLC (FAI; Burr Ridge, Ill.; www.fauske.com), a leader in nuclear, industrial and…
Fluor awarded gas-to-methanol contract by South Louisiana Methanol
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) was awarded an engineering and design services contract by South…
BASF unveils its new high-performance insulating material
After seven years of research, BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) unveiled its new high- performance…
Lanxess expands phosphorus chemicals portfolio
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is expanding its portfolio of phosphorus-based chemicals by taking over…
Endress+Hauser expands U.S. production
Endress+Hauser (Switzerland; www.endress.com) is set to serve its customers in North and South Americawith more…
B&V and Ostara to build nutrient-recovery system for world’s largest water-reclamation plant
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) has selected Black & Veatch (B&V;…
K-Tron to operate under the Coperion K-Tron brand
K-Tron (Pitman, N.J.; www.ktron.com) , a global leader in feeding, dosing and pneumatic-conveying equipment and…
BASF to produce paper-coating binders at its Hamina site
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) now produces its new cost-efficient binders (CEBs) based on styrene-acrylics…
Praxair India expands growth with small on-site plants
Praxair India Private Limited, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has signed two…
Foster Wheeler awarded EPCm contract for compression project in Mozambique
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering…
Toyo lands EPC contract for oil-sands SAGD facilities in Canada
Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp), through its Canadian subsidiary Toyo Engineering Canada Ltd.,…
Teijin Frontier to establish new company in Myanmar
Teijin Frontier Co. (www2.teijin-frontier.com) — the Teijin Group's (Tokyo, Japan; www.teijin.com) fiber-products converting company —…
Outotec-Hatch to deliver a technology license for a potential alumina refinery in the UAE
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) and Hatch Ltd. (Mississauga, Ont., Canada; www.hatch.ca), as an unincorporated…
Haldor Topsøe licensing technology to Azerbaijan’s first ammonia-urea complex
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has decided to build the country’s first combined…
Clariant certifies cellulosic-ethanol plant
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) has received the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) for its…
Solvay and Sadara JV begins construction of H2O2 plant in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Hydrogen Peroxide Co., a newly created joint venture (JV) between Sadara Chemical Co. (Sadara;…
Thinking Inside the Box
Modular construction is slowly, but surely becoming a buzzword in the design/build industry because it…
BASF to build new plant for high-performance polyamide, and more business news
Plant Watch Chevron Phillips receives key permits for large Gulf Coast project August 14, 2013…
Technical & Practical
Polypropylene Bulk-Phase Process
Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer formed by the polymerization of 10,000–20,000 monomers of propylene.…
How To Properly Size A Steam Trap
Proper steam-trap sizing is critical to efficient and reliable steam-trap operation. Incorrect steam trap sizing…
Improve Rotary Equipment Reliability with Checklists
Rotary equipment, such as centrifugal pumps, often represent the heart of plants in the chemical…
Fundamentals of Bulk Solids Mixing and Blending
Mixing and blending of bulk solids is a common processing step in many industries. For…
Understanding Finned Heat Exchangers
Solid and serrated fins (Figure 1) are widely used as heat transfer surfaces in boilers…
Facts at Your Fingertips
PVC and CPVC Plastics for CPI Equipment
Chemical processing equipment made from thermoplastics can have distinct advantages for equipment corrosion, fluid contamination…