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Focus on Automation and Control

Honeywell Process Solutions Ergonomic design, improved display reduces operator fatigue The Experion Orion Console is an advanced display technology that builds on this company’s flagship Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) control platform. The console features a large flexible, ultra-high definition…

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This fatty-acid conversion process results in synthetic lubricant base oils

Biosynthetic Technologies (Irvine, Calif.; www.biosynthetic.com) has developed a continuous-flow process to convert any animal- or plant-based fatty acids with high oleic-acid content into synthetic esters that can be used in formulations for motor oils and industrial lubricants. These biosynthetic esters…

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Control Valve Selection: True Cost Savings Are Available

New safety and environmental regulations, longer plant uptime and changes in maintenance practices have created new requirements across the chemical process industries (CPI). Among the plant equipment affected by these changes are control valves, since they are used in numerous…

Liquefied-Industrial-Gas Safety

Many industrial gases are transported, stored and used in liquid form, a situation that poses significant health and safety risks. This one-page reference highlights good safety practices for preventing personnel injury when working with cryogenic fluids. High-purity industrial gases, including…

Michael Stubblefield becomes CEO of Avantor Performance Materials…

Stubblefield Howell Weston Rodriguez Evertz Ted Nelson joins Akron Rubber Development Laboratory (Akron, Ohio) as technical advisor. Michael Stubblefield becomes CEO of Avantor Performance Materials (Center Valley, Pa.), a developer of high-performance chemistries .  Ronen Tchelet joins biotechnology company Dyadic…

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This inexpensive bioplastic takes the heat

New bio-based polyimides (PIs) that withstand temperatures up to 390°C — the highest ever reported for a bioplastic — have been developed by Tatsuo Kaneko at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST, Nomi City; www.jaist.ac.jp), in collaboration…

Finding job satisfaction

What do you look for in a job? It is an interesting question, and one that has received more attention in recent years as employers, who are struggling to find and attain the “right” person for a particular job, realize…

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Reflecting on a milestone

This is my fiftieth editorial in Chemical Engineering. There have been several surprises, going all the way back to the beginning in 2010, when I was first asked if I would like to author a monthly editorial. I said that…

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This on-purpose butadiene process takes a step closer to commercialization

Last month, The Linde Group (Pullach, Germany; www.linde.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) announced plans to cooperate in developing and licensing processes for the on-purpose production of linear butenes and butadiene. BASF has developed process technology and catalysts as…

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Producing Ethanol from Lignocellulosic Biomass

Pressing global issues, such as climate change and declining energy security, have led to an increasing interest in the use of renewable feedstocks for fuel production. These feedstocks include lignocellulosic materials, such as waste biomass from the agriculture and forest…