Business & Economics
Foster Wheeler awarded contract for molybdenum refinery in Chile
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) says that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract for engineering, procurement and related services for a grassroots molybdenum refinery in Chile. The contract was awarded by…
Orion Engineered Carbons to restructure carbon black production in Europe
Orion Engineered Carbons GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany; www.orioncarbons.com) will cease production at its Sines, Portugal facility by the end of 2013. This decision came after an intensive review of its European carbon-black operations. The shutdown will take place while investments are being…
Gani to take office as president of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering
Effective January 1, 2014, Professor Rafiqul Gani from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) will take office as president of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE; www.efce.org) for a two-year term. Gani succeeds the outgoing president, Professor Richard Darton,…
OSHA seeks public comment on standards to improve chemical process safety
The U.S. Dept. of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Admin. (OSHA; Washington, D.C.; www.osha.gov) has announced a request for information (RFI) seeking public comment on potential revisions to its Process Safety Management standard and related standards, as well as other…
Exterran and Black & Veatch to market natural-gas-processing technology in North America
Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.; www.bv.com) and Exterran Energy Solutions, L.P. (Exterran) are joining forces to reduce capital and operating costs, improve natural gas liquid product yields and enhance system flexibility for natural gas processors. The two companies have…
Bartec acquires Pixavi
Bartec GmbH (Bad Mergentheim, Germany; www.bartec.de) has acquired Pixavi (Stavanger, Norway), a world leading supplier of mobile communication devices and wireless infrastructure for hazardous areas. The acquisition perfectly complements the Bartec product portfolio, which comprises explosion-proof components and systems, heating…
Mitsui Chemicals expands polypropylene capacity in North America, and more business news
Plant Watch Chandra Asri and Michelin partner on synthetic-rubber manufacturing plant November 11, 2013 — PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (Jakarta, Indonesia; www.chandra-asri.com) and Compagnie Financière Michelin have formed a partnership for the inauguration of a synthetic-rubber plant. Construction of…
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…
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 …