A new spin on enzymatic reactions
A new process-intensification technology to accelerate the rate of enzymatic reactions has been developed by…
Commentary
An unexpected safety lesson
About thirty years ago, my golf foursome learned an important safety lesson and we credited…
In The News
Chementator
Commercial debut for a low-cost stationary energy-storage system
A novel battery chemistry that uses a water-based electrolyte has allowed developer Aquion Energy Inc.…
In-situ chemical remediation of soil and groundwater
Geo-Cleanse International, Inc. (Mata- wan, N.J.; www.geo-cleanse.com) has developed a new method for ridding soil…
New ceramic membranes for oxygen separation
Researchers from Curtin University’s Fuels and Energy Technology Institute (Perth, Western Australia; www.curtin.edu.au), led by…
Recovering and purifying byproduct and waste ethylene glycol
GlyEco Inc. (Phoenix, Ariz.; www.glyeco.com) has developed a process for recovering and purifying ethylene glycol…
Global Air-Pollution Regulations: Variation is the Norm
The chemical process industries (CPI) are, by their very nature, global in scope. While chemical…
Organic corrosion inhibitors perform well against oxidizing biocides
After extensive pilot- and field-testing, U.S. Water Services (St. Michael, Minn.; www.uswaterservices.com) plans to roll…
Bio-isobutene fermentation process to be piloted
Construction is underway in France on a pilot plant for what is believed to be…
March Chementator Briefs
Renewable 5-HMF Last month, commercial-scale production of high-purity 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) started at the Biochem-1…
This pathway from cellulose to p-xylene eliminates saccharification step
A new chemical process is set to create bio-based p-xylene from cellulosic waste. Micromidas (West…
Business News
Samsung Engineering signs oil-field-development contract in Iraq
Samsung Engineering Co., (Seoul, South Korea; www.samsungengineering.com) has officially announced that it was awarded the…
CB&I awarded contract for plastics project in Oman
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded a contract valued in excess of $40…
CB&I awarded Catofin technology project in China
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded a contract by Shandong Sincier Petrochemical Co.…
Clariant and Petronas sign licensing collaboration
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) and Petronas Technology Ventures Sdn Bhd (PTVSB; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; www.petronas.com.my),…
Repsol enters metallocene license agreement
Repsol’s (Madrid, Spain) Chemicals Division (www.chemicals.repsol.com) has entered into an agreement to license Chevron Phillips…
Sandvik expands its sulfur technology portfolio
Sandvik Process Systems (SPS; Fellbach, Germany; www.processsystems.sandvik.com), a world leading supplier of sulfur processing &…
German Engineering & Construction: staying competitive in a volatile environment
The member companies of the Large Industrial Plant Manufacturers Ì Group (AGAB) at the German…
JGC awarded EPC contract for clean fuels project in Kuwait
JGC Corporation JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) and its partners GS Engineering & Construction (GS)…
Bayer expands production for coating raw materials in China
Bayer MaterialScience AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.materialscience.bayer.de) is increasing its production capacities in the Asia/Pacific region…
GTL joint venture
Velocys plc (Plain City, Ohio; www.velocys.com) has entered a joint venture (JV) with Waste Management…
Novo Nordisk invests in new purification pilot plant in Denmark
Novo Nordisk A/S (Bagsværd, Denmark; www.novonordisk.com) is increasing its drug development capacity by investing 550…
Kreisel strengthens its position in southern Germany
On February 15, 2014, Kreisel GmbH & Co. KG (Krauschwitz, Germany; www.kreisel.eu) took over the…
Foster Wheeler awarded FEED contracts by S-OIL for residue-upgrading project
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) says that subsidiaries of its Global Engineering and Construction…
KBR awarded EPC contracts for Agrium’s nitrogen-operations Facility
KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) says that Agrium awarded the company two engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)…
Evonik invests in innovative methionine source for shrimp ;
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) will build the world's first plant for the production…
Haldor Topsøe expands its Frederikssund catalyst plant
Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) officially opened a large extension of the company's catalyst…
BASF opens global R&D center in Mumbai
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) today inaugurated a new global Research and Development (R&D) Center…
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions to build turnkey cement plant in Algeria
ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com), the ThyssenKrupp Group’s plant engineering specialist, has received an…
Dow to build new R&D facility in Texas
As part of its ongoing commitment to innovation, The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com)…
WorleyParsons awarded Canadian bitumen-refinery project
WorleyParsons Ltd. (North Sydney, Australia; www.worleyparsons.com) has been appointed to provide detailed engineering and procurement…
BASF to build world-scale specialty amines plant in Nanjing
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) will build a new world-scale production plant to manufacture specialty…
Succinity produces first commercial quantities of biobased succinic acid
Succinity GmbH (Düsseldorf, Germany; www.succinity.com), the joint venture between Corbion Purac and BASF for the…
BASF to manufacture chelating agent at new plant in Alabama, and more business news
Plant Watch SNC-Lavalin wins contract for sulfuric-acid project in Saudi Arabia February 7, 2014 —…
Technical & Practical
Mass Transfer in Fermentation Scaleup
How big can a fermenter get? And what would the biggest fermenter look like? The…
Dilute-phase Pneumatic Conveying: Instrumentation and Conveying Velocity
Dilute-phase pneumatic conveying systems must be operated in a certain sequence and have sufficient instrumentation…
FDA Form 483: Minimizing FDA Inspection Citations
As an owner or manager of a company whose product is regulated by the U.S.…
Methanol-to-Olefins Process
Ethylene and propylene are the most important intermediates in the petrochemical industry. Globally, they are…
Implementing a Corrosion-Under-Insulation Program
Corrosion to the external surface of process piping and vessels that is hidden under the…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Level-Measurement Device Selection
Effective level measurement in the chemical process industries (CPI) helps maintain material inventory at economic…