Business & Economics
Robert Card becomes president and CEO of SNC-Lavalin…
Correction: From the October 2012 Letters page: Who's Who that ran in the print edition of Chemical Engineering had two spelling errors: Blachoh Fluid Control is correctly spelled Blacoh Fluid Control, and the headquarters of CST International is Lenexa, Kan.…
KBR to provide license and design package for olefins recovery unit in China
KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) was awarded a license and process-design package contract for a new Olefins Recovery Unit in Yulin city, Shanxi Province, China. The client owns an existing commercial plant of coal-to-olefins which was put into production in 2011 and…
ChemInnovations 2012 Conference & Expo Preview
The 3rd ChemInnovations conference and tradeshow will take place in New Orleans, La. November 13–15. ChemInnovations is an educational conference and exhibition tailored for chemical engineers who work in the chemical process industries (CPI). Organized by Chemical Engineering and its…
BP agrees to sell Carson refinery and more business news
Plant Watch Solvay increases fluorinated-derivatives production capacity in France September 6, 2012 — Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is investing over €10 million to double the capacity of the fluorinated aliphatic-derivatives production line at its plant in Salindres, France. The…
Air Products to build new ASU for enhanced natural-gas recovery in the Netherlands
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) says it will build and operate a new air separation unit (ASU) for Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V. (NAM), a joint venture between Shell and Esso. The company has secured the necessary environmental and permit…
Demand for new technology drives multi-million AkzoNobel expansion
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is to boost capacity at one of its U.S. sites in order to meet increasing demand from the semi-conductor industry, particularly for the production of light emitting diodes (LEDs). Financial details were not disclosed. The…
Evonik plans for the first MMA production plant using the Aveneer process
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is starting basic planning for a new methyl methacrylate (MMA) production plant using the Aveneer process at its Mobile, Ala. site. The capital expenditure involved will be in the three-digit million euro range. The…
Solvay launches rare-earth-recycling activities in France
Today, Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) officially opened two rare earth recycling units in France. In order to diversify its sources of supply and preserve resources, the Group has developed a process for recovering rare earths contained in end-of-life equipment…
Biofuels coalition defends Renewable Fuel Standard
A large coalition of advanced and traditional renewable fuel stakeholders today joined forces to defend America’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the economic, employment, domestic renewable energy and national security benefits the RFS provides. The new coalition, Fuels America, spans…
Maire Tecnimont lands contract for Egyptian refinery
Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.it) says that several contracts have been awarded to some of its subsidiaries for a total amount of approximately €135 million for engineering, procurement and technology services. In Egypt, the Group has been awarded —…