Business & Economics
UOP butadiene technology selected for capacity boost in Romania
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, says that its technology has been selected to boost yields at Romania’s largest synthetic rubber production facility. Romania’s Energy Bio-Chemicals will use the UOP KLP process to purify butadiene, a monomer…
Jacobs sells iron-ore-pelletizing business to Metso
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) says it has sold its iron ore pelletizing intellectual property and other assets to Metso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland; www.metso.com). Officials did not disclose the terms of the agreement, but confirmed the transaction between…
Oxea expands its portfolio with new special alcohols
Chemical manufacturer Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) says that it is expanding its product portfolio by offering a broader range of higher alcohols. For this purpose, Oxea invested in additional hydrogenation capacities at the Oberhausen site. In the third quarter…
Praxair breaks ground on new ASU in Memphis
To support the current and projected industrial growth in the U.S. Southeast region, Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) broke ground on its new air separation unit (ASU) in Memphis, Tenn. With a capacity of 600 ton/d, the new plant is…
INEOS Paraform broadens product range
INEOS Paraform GmbH & Co. KG (Mainz, Germany; www.ineosparaform.com), has today announced the start up of its new dimethoxymethane (Methylal) plant, based at the company’s site in Mainz, Germany. Methylal is an additive used in polyacetal and ion exchange resins.…
Air Products to build world’s largest energy-from-waste facility in the U.K.
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) says it will build and operate the world’s largest renewable energy plant in the U.K. using advanced gasification energy-from-waste (EfW) technology. The Tees Valley plant, located at the New Energy and Technology Business Park,…
Production workers in U.S. chemical industry are up, but equities slip, ACC report says
Employment of production workers in the U.S. chemical industry rose by 2,300 jobs (0.5%) to 503,000 in July, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that were discussed in the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report…
Construction begins on Evonik’s methionine complex in Singapore
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) is right on schedule with its plans to expand amino-acid production for animal feed — one of its core businesses. A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony in Singapore today officially marked the start of construction of…
Estonian shale-oil plant hot commission underway
Enefit Oil & Gas (Tallinn, Estonia; www.energia.ee) began the first hot commissioning of its Enefit280 shale oil plant in Auvere, Estonia on July 27. The first shale oil from the new plant is expected in September. “The start-up for this…
Calendar: September – November 2012
NORTH AMERICA World Class Process Safety Management for Chemicals, Petrochemicals & Refining. T.A. Cook Consultants (Houston). Phone: 919-510-8142; Web: tacook.com/psmusa Houston, Tex. September 18–20 Plastics in Photovoltaics 2012. Applied Market Information LLC (Wyomissing, Pa.). Phone: 610-478-0800; Web: amiplastics.com/events Phoenix,…