Plant Watch Celanese expands production capacities for acetic acid and VAE April 9, 2024 — Celanese Corp. (Dallas, Tex.; www.celanese.com) started up a new production unit for vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) in Nanjing, China and completed several downstream debottlenecking projects…
Trends related to the energy transition are shifting global demand for refined products and affecting feedstock slates, forcing petroleum refiners to embrace adaptation and flexibility Demand for fossil fuels has remained strong in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, but…
The Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS) includes a business guide that outlines the business benefits of interoperability. This article discusses the benefits in the chemical industry While envisioning the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PASTM), the Open Group’s (www.opengroup.org) Open Process…
At €24.3 billion, incoming orders booked in Germany by the members of the VDMA Large-scale Plant Engineering Group (AGAB; Frankfurt am Main) in Germany in 2023 were 15.7% higher than in the previous year (2022: €21.0 billion). This figure represents…
The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) for February 2024 (most recent available) rose compared to the previous month’s value, continuing a string of increases over the past three months. For February, the increase in the overall…
Plant Watch EuroChem launches phosphate-fertilizer manufacturing complex in Brazil March 14, 2024 — EuroChem Group (Zug, Switzerland; www.eurochemgroup.com) opened a new fertilizer-production facility in Serra do Salitre, Brazil. With a total project investment of nearly $1 billion, the new phosphate…
Burgeoning demand for hydrogen to support decarbonization goals is straining existing supply chains for industrial gases and prompting companies to adapt quickly to the emerging net-zero-carbon economy The increasing use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier is causing a…
The value of the 2023 Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index® (CEPCI) decreased compared to the previous year’s value, but remains substantially above the levels observed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The annual CEPCI value is calculated as an average of…
The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index® (CEPCI) for January 2024 (most recent available and first data available for this year) increased compared to the previous month. This increase is the second consecutive monthly rise, and is larger…
Plant Watch Petrobras to build ‘green’ hydrogen pilot plant with Senai ISI-ER February 12, 2024 — Petrobras (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; www.petrobras.com.br) entered into a cooperation agreement with Instituto Senai de Energias Renováveis to build a pilot electrolysis plant to…