In The News
Oxea expands its portfolio with new special alcohols
Chemical manufacturer Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) says that it is expanding its product portfolio by offering a broader range of higher alcohols. For this purpose, Oxea invested in additional hydrogenation capacities at the Oberhausen site. In the third quarter…
Praxair breaks ground on new ASU in Memphis
To support the current and projected industrial growth in the U.S. Southeast region, Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) broke ground on its new air separation unit (ASU) in Memphis, Tenn. With a capacity of 600 ton/d, the new plant is…
Jacobs receives contract from Codelco
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has received a contract from Codelco, the National Copper Corp. of Chile and world leader in copper production, to provide engineering services for an anticipated 200,000 metric tons (m.t.) per day copper mine…
Teijin to establish polyester chemical recycling JV in China
Next month, Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.teijin.co.jp) will establish Zhejiang Jiaren New Materials Co., Ltd., a joint venture (JV) with Jinggong Holding Group (Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China; www.jgsteelgroup.com), one of China’s largest production bases for fiber products. Through the JV,…
INEOS Paraform broadens product range
INEOS Paraform GmbH & Co. KG (Mainz, Germany; www.ineosparaform.com), has today announced the start up of its new dimethoxymethane (Methylal) plant, based at the company’s site in Mainz, Germany. Methylal is an additive used in polyacetal and ion exchange resins.…
Air Products to build world’s largest energy-from-waste facility in the U.K.
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) says it will build and operate the world’s largest renewable energy plant in the U.K. using advanced gasification energy-from-waste (EfW) technology. The Tees Valley plant, located at the New Energy and Technology Business Park,…
Construction begins on Evonik’s methionine complex in Singapore
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is right on schedule with its plans to expand amino-acid production for animal feed — one of its core businesses. A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony in Singapore today officially marked the start of construction of…
Estonian shale-oil plant hot commission underway
Enefit Oil & Gas (Tallinn, Estonia; www.energia.ee) began the first hot commissioning of its Enefit280 shale oil plant in Auvere, Estonia on July 27. The first shale oil from the new plant is expected in September. “The start-up for this…
Knowledge-based approach to catalyst development
Petroleum-derived ethylene normally contains traces of acetylene, which interferes with the conversion of ethylene into polyethylene (PE). Because it is difficult to separate it, the acetylene is selectively hydrogenated to ethylene — without subsequent hydrogenation to ethane — using a…
UOP technology selected by Lukoil
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill. www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, has been selected by Russia’s Lukoil to provide technology to produce blending components used to make high-octane gasoline and petrochemicals at its facility in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Lukoil will license an…