Operator’s Guide to Centrifugal Pumps. By Robert X. Perez. Xlibris Corp. 436 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19101. Web: xlibris.com. 2008. 196 pages. $50.99. Reviewed by Heinz P. Bloch, Process Machinery Consulting, West Des Moines, Iowa It is important for reliability…
Web 2.0 developments can improve an engineer’s productivity at work, as well as his or her professional development Since it was opened to commercial content in the early 1990s, the internet has become a ubiquitous repository of knowledge. Its open…
Oliver Lawal becomes vice-president at Aquionics (Erlanger, Ky.). Edwards (Crawley, West Sussex, U.K.) names Ron Krisanda operations and technology director. Bentley Systems (Exton, Pa.) appoints Pieter Neethling to the newly created position of solutions executive, mining and metals. Richard Schloesser…
Plant Watch Dow to close LDPE plant in Freeport, Texas February 12, 2009 — Driven by current economic conditions and overcapacity for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the North American marketplace, The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.) has announced the shutdown…
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) has mid-term plans to construct a new hyperpure polycrystalline silicon facility in the U.S. and has purchased land in Tennessee for this purpose. The land in Bradley County covers approximately 550 acres (220 hectares),…
ABB (www.abb.com) has won an order worth approximately $62 million from Vale to supply electrification and automation systems and related equipment for a new iron-ore-pellet plant in Oman. The new Vale plant, 230 kilometers northwest of Muscat, is expected to…
The Ukrainian based holding company Ukrtatnafta (www.ukrtatnafta.com), has awarded Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) a contract for upgrading the gasoline pool at the Kremenchug refinery, which is the largest throughput capacity refinery in the Ukraine. The upgrading project is the first…
Wireless: Small Investments Quick Returns Wednesday, February 25th Hilton Americas - Houston, TX 1:15 PM - 4:30 PM Room: Lanier Ballroom C In response to the current economic climate, in which operating companies are trying to cut costs and improve…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is systematically expanding its portfolio of specialty monomers and launching its new product, 2-propylheptyl acrylate (2-PHA), on the market. This is a new raw material and building block for functional polymers. 2-PHA belongs to the…
Invensys Process Systems (IPS; Plano, Tex.; www.ips.invensys.com) has released the newest version of SimSci-Esscor’s HEXTRAN software, a comprehensive heat transfer and pinch analysis tool. In addition to the numerous infrastructure upgrades and enhancements that address the emerging needs of clients…