Business & Economics
Calendar: July – August 2009
North America Oil Sands and Heavy Oil Technologies Conference & Exhibition. Pennwell Petroleum Events (Tulsa, Okla.). Phone: 713-963-6251; Fax: 713-963-6201; Web: oilsandstechnologies.com Calgary, Alta. July 14 – 16 2009 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing. Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO;…
New water business unit forms from Dow merger with Rohm and Haas and more
Plant Watch New Linde plant in Illinois to supply hydrogen for diesel production May 19, 2009 — Linde has executed a new longterm contract with PdV Midwest Refining LLC to supply hydrogen to the company’s Citgo Lemont, Ill., oil refinery.…
Peter Oosterveer becomes president of energy & chemicals for Fluor Corp…
Oosterveer Thorne Matlas Pillion Lostak Peter Oosterveer becomes president of energy & chemicals for Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.), based in Haarlem, Netherlands. RathGibson (Lincolnshire, Ill.) names Kirk Thorne vice-president of sales and marketing. Matcor (Doylestown, Pa.) names Matt Matlas senior…
Licensure around the globe
Chemical engineering principles do not differ by geographical location. The same cannot be said, however, about the established criteria for certifying that an individual has mastery of those principles. Requirements for obtaining a professional license or charter in the field…
Hydrogen-generating plant for Ukraine
Caloric Anlagenbau GmbH (Gräfelfing, Germany; www.caloric.com) has won a contract to supply a hydrogen plant in the Ukraine based on Caloric’s steam-methane-reforming technology. Caloric will provide engineering and equipment for a new H2 plant and the corresponding distributed control system,…
AkzoNobel to sell stake in Pakistan PTA activities
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, Netherlands; www.AkzoNobel.com) has agreed to divest its 75% stake in the pure terephthalic acid (PTA) activities of its Chemicals Pakistan business to Korean company KP Chemical Corp. (KPC). The holding in Pakistan PTA Limited — which is listed…
Mitsubishi Rayon completes its acquisition of Lucite International
Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.mrc.co.jp) completed its purchase of Lucite International Group Ltd. of the U.K., on May 28, 2009. The total acquisition cost was approximatley $1.6 billion. The acquisition of Lucite International will make Mitsubishi Rayon into…
HSC adds new polysilicon production capacity
The Hemlock Semiconductor Group (HSC; Hemlock, Mich.; www.hscpoly.com), which includes two Dow Corning joint ventures, has started up a new 8,500 metric tons (m.t.) polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) production facility at its Hemlock, Mich. location. This new capacity, which has been…
Mustang awarded control system modernization contract at ConocoPhillips San Francisco refinery
Mustang (Houston), part of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC (“Wood Group”), has been awarded a contract by ConocoPhillips for a distributed control system (DCS) modernization project at its San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, Calif. The project scope…
Silicon-crystal production expands in Jena
WackerSchott Solar GmbH (Jena, Germany; www.wackerschott.de), a joint venture between Wacker Chemie AG (Munich) and Schott Solar AG (Alzenau), officially commissioned a new factory building in Jena today. The building will be used to produce solar-grade silicon crystals. After a…