Business & Economics
Graham Corp. awarded three orders
Graham Corp. (Batavia, N.Y.; www.graham-mfg.com), a designer and manufacturer of critical equipment for the oil refining, petrochemical and power industries, has been awarded three orders totaling approximately $4.8 million for specialized condensers, liquid ring pump packages and ejector systems to…
Capital spending in global chemical industry poised for growth, ACC report says
After sparing capital spending in late 2008 and 2009, chemical companies around the world have collectively spent more on new plants and equipment in 2010, the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) says in its Year-end 2010 Situation and…
Technip awarded major contract in Algeria
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) has been awarded by Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company, a contract for the refurbishment and revamping of the Algiers refinery. This lump sum turnkey contract, worth approximately 67.9-billion Algerian Dinars ($908 million), will last 38…
Thawing CPI Job Market spurs Hires
Engineers and others working in the chemical process industries (CPI) generally are experiencing an employment situation that is significantly improved over 12 to 18 months ago, with a tentative optimism among CPI companies driving significant hiring activity. Demand for chemical…
Oseco names Darren Doyle VP of sales…
Rabie Hansen Chen McCoole Stephanou Oseco (Broken Arrow, Okla.), a manufacturer of rupture disks, names Darren Doyle vice president of sales. Koch Membrane Systems (Wilmington, Mass.), a supplier of membrane filtration technology and systems support, promotes Hamid Rabie to chief…
Plant Watch Mergers and Acquisitions
Total and CPI to study coal-to-olefins petrochemical project in China November 5, 2010 — Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) and the Chinese energy group China Power Investment Corp. (CPI) intend to build a coal-based petrochemical plant in China. The two…
Total awards Technip with hydrocracker contract
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) has been awarded by Total an engineering, procurement services and construction management contract to increase the capacity of the hydrocracker at the Normandy refinery located in Gonfreville, France. This project, which is part of a larger…
Dow to boost renewable-energy use in Brazil
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) today announced that its largest manufacturing facility in Brazil, the Aratu Complex, will add biomass to its portfolio of clean energy sources by the end of 2012. Upon project completion in December 2012,…
Blurring borders and the future
As the lines of demarcation separating scientific disciplines continue to blur, increasing clarity arises for the recognition that the scientific borderlands represent the fertile ground for future advancements. A recent illustration of that concept emerged at a symposium last…
Project design decision-making: Option lists
Most of the more than $100 billion in capital spending and $1.2 trillion in prodution costs spent annually by the chemical process industries (CPI) is committed by decisions made in the early phases of process development and plant design. A…