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U.S. chemical production edges lower in November, ACC says

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) fell by 0.4% in November following declines of 0.4% in September and 0.3% in October, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Chemical output was lower than a month…

January 2023 Bookshelf: Recently Published Books for the CPI

The following lists recently published books of relevance to the chemical process industries (CPI): The Other Side of Safety: Moving from Results-Based to Behavior-Based. By Robert Palmer, CRC Press, 2023, 154 pages, $71.96. A New Approach to HAZOP of Complex…

2022 CEPCI Updates: October (prelim.) and September (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for October 2022 (most recent available) fell for the fourth consecutive month, following a long string of monthly increases between November 2020 and June 2022. For the October preliminary data,…

U.S. chemical output rose in 2022, but may fall slightly in 2023, ACC says

The chemical industry posted one of its best years in a decade and the U.S. expanded its dominant position as a leading producer of chemical products, but growth has slowed in recent months, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC;…

Reducing sludge stickiness with polyaluminum chloride: an investigation of two conditioners

Polyaluminum chloride (PACl) is used as a conditioning agent for reducing the stickiness of waste-activated sludge in wastewater-treatment applications. Presented here is a study comparing two PACl species with different degrees of polymerization The sticky behavior of waste-activated sludge (WAS)…

Trillium receives funding for construction of market demonstration unit for bio-based acrylonitrile

Trillium Renewable Chemicals (Knoxville, Tenn.; www.trilliumchemicals.com) announced today it has raised a $10.6M Series A financing round. The first closing totaled $5.5M and was led by Hyosung Advanced Materials Corporation. Current investor Capricorn Partners also participated. HELM AG has agreed…

CE Podcast: Process Analytics 4.0 and Sampling Best Practices with Metrohm’s Kraig Kmiotek

On this episode of the CE Podcast, guest Kraig Kmiotek, Product Manager for Process Analytics at Metrohm USA, discusses the connections between the digital transformation of Industry 4.0 and inline/online process analysis. Among other things, Kraig discusses best practices and…

2022 CEPCI Updates: September (prelim.) and August (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for September 2022 (most recent available) fell for the third consecutive month, following after a long string of increases between November 2020 and June 2022. For the September preliminary data,…

CE Podcast: Guest Gavin Towler of Honeywell UOP discusses decarbonization

This episode of the CE Podcast features Honeywell UOP Chief Technology Officer Gavin Towler discussing the current state of key energy-transition technologies. Towler talks with Chemical Engineering magazine senior editor Scott Jenkins about hydrogen generation and storage, carbon capture and…

2022 CEPCI updates: August (prelim.) and July (final)

The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for August 2022 (most recent available) declined from the previous month — the second straight monthly decline after a long string of increases between November 2020 and June 2022. For…