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A tribute to a safety trailblazer

One of the chemical process industries’ (CPI) foremost authorities on process safety, Trevor Kletz, passed away in late October at the age of 91. Amongst Kletz’s many achievements, one that stands out is his extensive contributions to the concept of…

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Capital cost calculations, Postscripts, corrections

Capital cost calculations I recently read the article “Capital Costs Quickly Calculated” [ Chem. Eng., pp.46­–52, April 2009] and find it extremely informative and useful. I have reservations about the example given about the cost comparison of two spherical storage…

Calendar: January–April 2014

  NORTH AMERICA 2014 Proactive Compliance Conference.International Soc. for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE; Tampa, Fla.). Phone: 813-960-2105; Web: ispe.org New Brunswick, N.J. January 13–14, 2014   Informex. UBM Live (Hamilton, N.J.). Phone: 609-759-4700; Web: informex.com Miami, Fla. January 21–24, 2014  …

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Calculations in Process Engineering

The topic of carrying out process engineering calculations in the most effective manner can be considered in these four ways: 1. The purpose of the calculation 2. The content of the calculation 3. The method used to carry out the…

Jacqueline Hinman becomes CEO of CH2M Hill…

Dascalescu Hinman Kreisel Aldana Wiseman Environmental Drilling Solutions (Lafayette, La.) names John Meckert CEO, and John Marty III business development manager.   Specialty chemicals company Evonik Canada, Inc. (East Gibbons, Alta.), names Diana Dascalescu manager of the company’s Maitland, Ont.,…

Current economic trends

Preliminary data for the September 2013 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) indicate that costs rose in all subcategories compared to the previous month, except the Engineering & Supervision category, which remained unchanged. The current CEPCI value…

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BASF produces first commercial volumes of bio-based butanediol  

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has produced its first commercial volumes of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from renewable raw material, and is offering this product to customers for testing and commercial use. The production process relies on a patented fermentation technology from…

CAB rises over October, ACC says

The U.S. economy is likely to see continued, albeit conservative growth in 2014, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) monthly Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), released today. The Chemical Activity Barometer is an established leading economic indicator,…

Kuraray to acquire DuPont Glass Laminating Solutions/Vinyls

Kuraray ( Tokyo, Japan; www.kuraray.co.jp/en) and DuPont (Wilmington, Del.; www.dupont.com) have signed a definitive agreement for DuPont to sell Glass Laminating Solutions/Vinyls (GLS/Vinyls), a part of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers, to Kuraray for $543 million, plus the value of the…

Sasol selects Technip as FEED contractor for U.S. GTL facility

Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) announced today that it has selected Technip S.A. (Paris; www.technip.com) as the primary contractor for the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase of its proposed gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility in Louisiana. "The selection of Technip…