Researchers at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technologys (AIST) Interdisciplinary Research Center for Catalytic Chemistry (Tsukuba, Japan; www.aist.go.jp) have developed a new reaction process to synthesize aromatic urethane — a promising starting material for the production of…
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has signed an agreement with PT Rekayasa Industri (REKIND) to provide ammonia technology in the Indonesian, Southeast Asian and Asian markets. Under this agreement, REKIND will exclusively promote and license KBR’s proprietary ammonia technology, along with…
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) recently won a contract, by Lotte Chemical Titan (M) SDN. BHD., to provide licensing and basic engineering design services to revamp an existing steam-cracker plant in the Asia Pacific Region. Under the terms of the contract,…
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is increasing resin production capacity at its plant in Panoli, Gujarat state in India, by 25% to support strong demand for its innovative ultra-high performance polymers KetaSpire and AvaSpire. Solvay's Global Business Unit Specialty Polymers…
BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) Refining Catalysts business today launched a new fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts testing and research laboratory at the hte GmbH (hte) site in Heidelberg, Germany. hte is a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF SE and…
Protective-enclosure maker Intertec Inc. (Sarnia, Ont.; www.intertec.info) is building a unique, explosion-proof, pressurized shelter for a granulated urea warehouse at what will be the world’s largest, single-stream, gas-to-urea plant in Nigeria. The three-section enclosure protects personnel and electronics from potentially…
These days, the term electrochemistry has become almost synonymous with advanced batteries and energy-storage devices, and considerable R&D efforts abound for both batteries (Chem. Eng., October 2013, pp. 17–23) and energy storage (Chem. Eng., December 2011, pp. 19–23). Nevertheless, traditional,…
New techniques and equipment for manufacturing cast components made from beryllium-aluminum alloys can reduce the cost significantly, allowing the high-performance materials to be considered for a wide range of applications beyond their initial uses in the aerospace industry. Beryllium-aluminum alloys…
Significant improvements to a process to extract vanadium, titanium and iron from the Mount Peake Vanadium-Titanium-Iron Project in the Northern Territory of Australia will be tested in a pilot plant now under construction and nearing completion. Results of the pilot-plant…
Plant Watch Momentive to construct two formaldehyde plants in Louisiana November 10, 2014 — Momentive Specialty Chemicals Inc. (Columbus, Ohio; www.momentive.com) plans to build two new formaldehyde plants in Geismar and Luling, La., with operations expected to begin in…