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A repeat near miss

It is with extreme reticence that I author this page, even though I received permission several months ago to do so. FRI had a near miss in 2010, which was identical to a near miss that occurred in 2007. In…

Bryan O’Toole becomes president of Bryan Steam LLC…

O’Toole Potier Mathews Waddle Drewes Bryan O’Toole becomes president of Bryan Steam LLC (Peru, Ind.), a manufacturer of boilers, replacing Tom May, who retired in July.   Edwin Reidel becomes business manager for North America for LemnaTec GmbH (Aachen, Germany),…

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Solvay to build large bicarbonate plant in Thailand, and more business news

Plant Watch Novozymes and Beta Renewables open advanced biofuels facility in Italy October 9, 2013 — Novozymes (Copenhagen, Denmark; www.novozymes.com), a producer of industrial enzymes, and Beta Renewables, opened what is said to be the world’s largest advanced biofuels facility,…

Our Global Energy Future: The 30-Year Plan & 300-Year Outlook

Just a few years ago, the natural gas industry seemed to be in its death throes, nuclear power had modest comeback aspirations, and coal was king. Since then, environmental compliance costs have tossed coal under the bus, Fukishima dinged nuclear…

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Ethanol from Sugarcane

Ethanol is a widely used commodity chemical with several applications, including use as a solvent and as a gasoline blendstock in the fuel market. Globally, the major portion of ethanol production is based on the fermentation of sugars from crop…

Biological Wastewater Treatment: Selecting the Process

Chemical, pharmaceutical and related industries produce large amounts of wastewater in their production and cleaning processes. The wastewater characteristics are often diverse, and may include minimally biodegradable or toxic substances, or both. To protect the environment, these wastewaters typically must…

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Understanding Boiler Circulation

Boilers generate steam using different methods to circulate the steam-water mixture through the evaporator tubes. These methods include natural circulation (Figures 1, 2a–2c), forced circulation (Figure 3a), and a once-through design. Figures 3b, 4 and 5 show examples of a…

Thomas Kehl becomes president and chairman of the executive board at Coperian GmbH…

Kehl Diaz-Stringel Morgan Imbrogno Morgan   Thomas Kehl becomes president and chairman of the executive board of Coperian GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany), which specializes in compounding and bulk-materials-handling systems. Univar, Inc. (Redmond, Wash.), a global chemicals distributor, names Sam Sutherland vice…

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A booming interest in separation technologies

Distillation and absorption are back. The AIChE Spring Meeting (San Antonio, April 28–May 2) proved it and the fall meeting to be held in November will muffle any doubting Thomases. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, I spent appreciable…

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Evonik forms joint venture with Secar for lightweight composites, and more business news

Plant Watch Sibur and BASF sign longterm agreement for polymer additives September 12, 2013 — Sibur (Moscow, www.sibur.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) have signed a longterm cooperation memorandum to supply additives to be used for polymer production and…