Business & Economics
BASF plans production of butanediol from renewable feedstock using Genomatica technology
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) plans to begin production of 1,4-butanediol based on renewable feedstock (renewable BDO) using the patented process of Genomatica (San Diego, Calif.; www.genomatica.com). The one-step fermentation process is based on sugars as a renewable feedstock. The…
NPN to build $1.5-billion nitrogen-fertilizer plant in North Dakota
Northern Plains Nitrogen (NPN; Grand Forks, N.D.; www.northernplainsnitrogen.com) leaders announced their plans today to build and operate a $1.5-billion nitrogen-fertilizer production facility near Grand Forks, N.D. The world-scale production facility will include a 2,200-ton/d ammonia plant plus urea and urea-ammonium-nitrate (UAN)…
Jacobs receives another contract from Minera Chinalco
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has received a contract from Minera Chinalco Peru S.A. to perform a feasibility study for the expansion of its Toromocho copper mining facilities in the Morococha District of Peru. Officials did not disclose…
Solvay and Ineos join forces to create a world-class PVC producer
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay) and Ineos AG Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to combine their European chlorvinyls activities in a proposed 50-50 joint venture (JV). The combination would form a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer…
Dreyfus Prize goes to developer of mass spectrometry instruments
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation (New York; www.dreyfus.org) has announced that R. Graham Cooks, the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University, is the recipient of the 2013 Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences, conferred this year in chemical…
Foster Wheeler awarded FEED contract for a refinery upgrade in Russia
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) says that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by OJSC Gazpromneft Moscow Refinery to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) and design documentation in accordance with Russian…
Global CPRI grows in March, but at a subdued pace, ACC says
The Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) rose 0.1% in March, a subdued pace compared to January and February, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The information on the Global CPRI was part of ACC’s…
Fluor wins contract for Dow U.S. Gulf Coast investments
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced today that it was awarded a contract by The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) to execute a significant portion of its U.S. Gulf Coast investments. Fluor’s scope includes the engineering, procurement and construction…
Current trends
Preliminary data for the February 2013 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI), which is the most recent available, indicate that capital equipment prices declined from January to February, by 0.2%. The current February 2013 preliminary Plant Cost Index stands at 4.4%…
Compressors: Pursuing Lowest Cost of Ownership
A variety of technologies, methods and best practices are available to obtain the lowest total cost of ownership for compressors used in plants throughout the chemical process industries (CPI). This article discusses several critical areas in which concerted effort can…