Business & Economics
BASF to sell fertilizer activities
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) plans to sell major parts of its fertilizers activities. This comprises production plants in Antwerp, Belgium and BASF’s 50% share of the joint venture PEC-Rhin in Ottmarsheim, France. The activities have a total annual capacity…
NREL’s Biorefinery Research Facility Phase two construction underway
The Dept. of Energy's (Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL; Golden, Colo.; www.nrel.gov) has completed construction on phase one and entered phase two of an Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (IBRF) — a place for NREL and industry to…
GE completes $3-billion acquisition of Dresser, Inc. and more business news
Genzyme to build additional biologics manufacturing plant in Belgium January 22, 2011 — Genzyme Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.; www.genzyme.com) plans to build an additional manufacturing plant in Geel, Belgium, to support the longterm growth of Alglucosidase alfa, known as Lumizyme in…
Improving Information Management
Maximizing quality, minimizing cost and meeting schedule milestones are ever-present challenges in large projects. While significant progress has been made in certain areas of facility construction, the management of project-related information continues to struggle. Information received by operators tends to…
Peter Ferris becomes president of Dur-A-Flex…
Haines Guiot Ramsey Oakley Marcotte Peter Ferris becomes president and CEO of Dur-A-Flex (E. Hartford, Conn.), a manufacturer of epoxies, urethane, methyl methacrylate and colored aggregates. Plasticolors, Inc. (Ashtabula, Ohio), a manufacturer of custom colorants and chemical dispersions, names Larry…
E&C projects Clarifying the Role of the Lead Process Engineer
For any capital-intensive and labor-intensive engineering and construction (E&C) project, the lead process engineer (LPE) plays a pivotal role. To maximize the success of these complex projects, companies that hire E&C companies should be aware of the role that the…
U.S. EPA extends greenhouse gas reporting deadline
The U.S. EPA (Washington, D.C.; www.epa.gov) announced today in a statement that it is announcing its intention to extend this year’s reporting deadline — originally March 31 — and plans to have the final uploading tool available this summer, with…
Dow: $100 million to reduce energy use
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) says it will accelerate energy efficiency and conservation improvements within its operations through an investment of $100 million in projects that will reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The $100 million…
B&W: Renewable energy contract in Finland
The Babcock & Wilcox Co.'s (B&W; Charlotte, N.C.; www.babcock.com) Denmark-based subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund A/S (B&W Vølund), has been awarded a $35-million contract with Finland-based EkoKem OY to supply key equipment for a 36-MW waste-to-energy, combined heat-and-power plant in…
Invista: New nylon 6,6 intermediates and polymer plant in Shanghai
Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) is moving forward on its plans to construct a manufacturing facility at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in China to meet the region’s demand for nylon 6,6 intermediates and polymer. The company is currently engaged in…