In The News
Successful commissioning of a polyamide 6.6 plant at Huafon Group in Ruian, China
The engineering company Uhde Inventa-Fischer (Berlin, Germany and Domat/Ems, Switzerland; www.uhde-inventa-fischer.com) has successfully commissioned a plant for the production of polyamide 6.6 for its Chinese customer Huafon Group. The production plant has an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tons and…
Using chemistry to protect structural steel during a fire
A technique for protecting structural steel from fire using the endothermic decomposition of magnesium hydroxide has been developed by a team from the Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering, the University of Auckland (New Zealand; www.auckland.ac.nz). Led by professor…
WorleyParsons awarded Evonik contract
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has awarded WorleyParsons Ltd. (North Sydney, Australia; www.worleyparsons.com) a contract for the detailed engineering, procurement support and construction management on the building of world-scale plants for the production of isophorone and isophorone diamine. The…
A new roasting process slated for commercialization
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has introduced a new partial roasting process to purify copper and gold concentrates that are contaminated with arsenic, antimony and carbon. The process is a pretreatment stage for Cu- and Au-extraction plants, and enables the…
Air Products to acquire DuPont’s stake in DA NanoMaterials
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of DuPont’s (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) interest in DuPont Air Products NanoMaterials LLC (DA NanoMaterials; Tempe, Ariz.; www.nanoslurry.com ), the two companies’ 50-50 joint venture serving…
This MOF selectively captures radioactive iodine
A challenge in recovering fissile material from spent nuclear fuel is separating radioactive components that cannot be reused as fuel. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory (Albuquerque, N.M.; www.sandia.gov) have fabricated metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) capable of selectively capturing gaseous iodine from…
A new PLA process makes its commercial debut
Earlier this year, the first polylactic acid (PLA) plant based on a new polymerization process was put into service by Synbra Technology in Etten Leur, the Netherlands. The plant — capable of producing up to 5,000 ton/yr of PLA —…
A new PLA process makes its commercial debut
Earlier this year, the first polylactic acid (PLA) plant based on a new polymerization process was put into service by Synbra Technology in Etten Leur, the Netherlands. The plant — capable of producing up to 5,000 ton/yr of PLA —…
Nanosized zeolite catalyst shows promise for improving naphtha cracking
A naphtha-cracking process with improved yield, reduced coking and longer catalyst life is being developed in a five-year Japanese project led by professor Takashi Tatsumi at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TiTech; www.titech.ac.jp), with participation from the National Institute of…
Nanosized zeolite catalyst shows promise for improving naphtha cracking
A naphtha-cracking process with improved yield, reduced coking and longer catalyst life is being developed in a five-year Japanese project led by professor Takashi Tatsumi at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TiTech; www.titech.ac.jp), with participation from the National Institute of…