Royal Dutch Shell plc (The Hauge, Netherlands; www.shell.com) and Codexis, Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.; www.codexis.com) have announced an expanded agreement to develop better biocatalysts that could accelerate commercialization of next generation biofuels. Shell also increased its equity stake in Codexis…
Hoerbiger Holding AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.hoerbiger.com) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% ownership of Tritech Compression, Inc. (Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada). Effective, March 2, 2009, the oil field equipment supply and maintenance service company will operate as business…
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced today that the world’s largest commercial-scale propylene oxide (PO) plant and the first based on the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com)…
Cambridge Viscosity (www.cambridgeviscosity.com) has announced that the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) has developed a new standard test method - ASTM D 7483-08 - for the Determination of Dynamic and Kinematic Viscosity of Liquids by Oscillating Piston Viscometer. Oscillating…
Dresser Masoneilan (Houston, Tex.; www.dresser.com), an international leader in the design, manufacture, and support of process control valves and solutions, was recently chosen by steel plant and equipment supplier Danieli India Ltd to provide control valves for the Vizakhapatnam Steel…
On February 20, global specialty chemicals supplier Cognis GmbH (Monheim am Rhein, Germany; www.cognis.com) signed an agreement to sell its Botanicals Extracts Business to Burgundy Botanical Extracts Iberia, S.A. (Burgundy; www.burgundy-extracts.com). Today, Cognis and Burgundy announced that the sale of…
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…