Kazakhstan’s JSC Trade House KazMunaiGaz has selected Axens’ (Rueil-Malmaison Cedex – France; www.axens.net) ParamaX Technology Suite for the first major aromatics complex to be located at the Atyrau Refinery in Kazakhstan. The Atyrau refinery processes up to 5.0 million metric…
GEA Ibérica, the Spanish subsidiary of the GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com), has acquired Caldemón Ibérica S.A., a leading manufacturer of shell-and-tube heat exchangers and surface condensers, commonly used in solar thermal power plants. In 2008, the company expects…
Hoerbiger Holding AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.hoerbiger.com) has acquired Altronic, Inc. (Girard, Ohio), effective January 1, 2009. Hoerbiger will integrate the company into the Business Division Engine Solutions, and therefore into the Strategic Business Unit Compression Technology. Altronic has locations in…
Plant Watch Construction of AkzoNobel’s unit for ethylene amines in China progresses December 17, 2008 — AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) is installing production capacity for ethylene amines in Ningbo, China, including ethylene oxide and monoethanolamine (MEA). Startup of…
Researchers at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE; Washington, D.C.) Ames Laboratory (www.ameslab.gov) and Iowa State University (both of Ames, Iowa) have developed a hard, smooth coating that can be applied to industrial equipment, such as pumps, gears and cutting…
Bioethanol Last month, an energy-saving plant for producing bioethanol started up in Norrköping, Sweden, for Lantmännen Agroetanol AB. When operating at full capacity, the plant will produce 470,000 L/d of bioethanol from grain (mostly wheat), making it the largest bioethanol…
Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany; www.siemens.com/energy) has installed a turnkey photovoltaic (PV) plant on the roof of the Siemens Healthcare X-ray systems manufacturing plant in Forchheim, Germany. After a planning and construction time of less than three months, the unit went…
OM Group, Inc. (OMG; Cleveland, Ohio; www.omgi.com) and Rahu Catalytics Ltd. (Nottingham, U.K.; www.rahucat.com) have agreed to develop a long-term global license and supply agreement for novel technology in the field of additives for coatings, inks and composites. According to…
Bayer MaterialScience (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; www.bayermaterialscience.com) has received regulatory approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, D.C.) for Baytubes, BMS’ multi-wall carbon nanotubes (CE, December 2005, p. 16). This enables the company to sell Baytubes on the American…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is increasing its production of low molecular weight, highly reactive polyisobutene (HR PIB). Between now and 2010 the company will increase its annual capacity by 25,000 metric tons (m.t.). The polymer, marketed worldwide under the…