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Kenneth Lane becomes president of BASF’s Catalyst Division…

Kraemer Garber Prejean Schaub Watson Kenneth Lane becomes president of BASF’s Catalysts Div. (Iselin, N.J.), succeeding Frank Bozich, who has decided to leave the company.   Klüber Lubrication North America LP (Londonderry, N.H.) names Ralf Kraemer CEO. He succeeds Dieter…

Current economic trends

Preliminary data for the March  2013 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; top; the most recent available) indicate that the composite index declined by 0.3% from the February value. The decrease was driven by a lower overall equipment cost index. The…

Seeking input on distillation education, and more June Letters

Seeking input on distillation education Right now, distillation engineers are extremely busy — globally, and especially in the U.S. The AIChE Distillation Symposium (May, San Antonio, Tex.) that was organized by Henry Kister and Mike Pritchett had an amazing number…

Calendar: June to November 2013

North America Risk Management of Corrodible Systems. National Assn. of Corrosion Engineers (Houston). Phone: 281-228-6200; Web: event.nace.org Orlando, Fla. June 18–20 Valve World Americas Expo & Conference. Messe Düsseldorf North America (Chicago, Ill.). Phone: 312-781-5185; Web: mdna.com Houston June 25–26…

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Myriant produces bio-succinic acid at commercial scale  

Myriant Corp.(Quincy, Mass.; www.myriant.com) announced the successful scaling and commercial production of bio-succinic acid at ThyssenKrupp Uhde's (Dortmund, Germany; www.uhde.eu) biotech commercial validation facility in Leuna, Germany. The production process meets targets for commercial yield and product quality. Myriant and…

Linde NA announces plans for ASU and gasification train in Texas

Linde North America (Murray Hill, NJ; www.lindeus.com) will invest more than $200 million to build a large, state-of-the art air separation unit (ASU), a new gasification train and supporting equipment and facilities in La Porte, Texas. The plants are scheduled…

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BASF and Sinopec consider further expansion of Nanjing JV  

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Sinopec (www.sinopec.com) are considering the extension of their Nanjing joint venture (JV) BASF-YPC Company Ltd. with the expansion of existing ethylene oxide (EO) production, and a new plant for neopentylglycol (NPG). BASF-YPC will further…

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Eastman to invest $1.6 billion in Kingsport site  

Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com) chairman and CEO Jim Rogers and Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam today announced a major economic development project referred to as Project Inspire. As part of this project, over the next seven years, Eastman will…

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Toyo’s Brazil affiliate awarded contract for hydrogen production facilities  

Toyo-Setal Empreendimentos Ltda. (TSE), a Brazilian joint venture capitalized by Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp), has been awarded a contract from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) for the construction of hydrogen production facilities (250,000 Nm3/h) to be installed in…

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Nucelis inaugurates pilot plant  

Today, Nucelis Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.nucelis.com) officially commissioned its first, state-of-the-art fermentation facility. The new pilot plant was custom-designed and fabricated to enable Nucelis to run virtually any fermentation process. “This facility will allow us and our partners to…