Although many new biodiesel plants are sprouting up around the world, Perstorp Oxo AB’s (Stenungsund Sweden) 160,000 m.t./yr rapeseed-methyl-esters (RME) facility, now under construction at Stenungsund, will be the first to have a reactor made from duplex stainless steel. The…
Bayer MaterialScience AG (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5830-546) has developed a new process for producing toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a precursor for making flexible polyurethane foam. Without disclosing details, BMS says the process reduces investment costs by 20–30%, and energy consumption by…
ATMI Life Sciences (ATMI; Hoegaarden, Belgium; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5830-549) and Pierre Guérin SAS (Mauze sur le Mignon, France; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5830-550) have formed an alliance to design, manufacture and market disposable fermentors and bioreactors. ATMI’s proprietary mixing system (which features a paddle integrated into…
Intelligent — and thorough — preparation of a process-design-basis document can make the difference between a high-quality design for a chemical-process project and a poor one. The process-design-basis document represents the owner’s instructions to the design engineering organization…
1st International Congress on Ceramics. The American Ceramic Society (Westerville, Ohio). Phone: 614-890-4700; Fax: 614-899-6109; Web: ceramic.org Toronto, Canada June 25–29  Principles of Process Safety Technology. ABS Consulting (Knoxville, Tenn.). Phone: 865-675-2580; Fax: 865-671-5851; Web: absconsulting.com Knoxville, Tenn. June…
OAPEC/IFP Joint Seminar: The Importance of Conversion Processes in Oil Refining and Their Role in the Production of Clean Fuels. IFP (Rueil-Malmaison, France). Phone: +33-147-526000; Fax: +33-147-527000; Web: ifp.fr Rueil-Malmaison, France June 20–22 16th European Symposium on Computer…
Interphex Asia. Reed Exhibitions (Singapore). Phone: +65-6789-8800; Fax: +65-6789-7711; Web: reedexpo.com.sg Singapore June 27–29 12th Annual China Chemical Industry Conference. Chemical Week (New York, N.Y.). Phone: 212-621-4978; Fax: 212-621-4970; Email: reg@chemweek.com Shanghai, China Sept. 12–14
Qatar Petroleum (Doha; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5829-542) and Norsk Hydro A/S (Oslo, Norway; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5829-543) have formed a joint venture company, Qatalum, to build and operate what is claimed as the largest, initial-phase greenfield aluminum smelter ever constructed. The smelter will have an annual…
Early next year, Nippoh Chemicals Co. (Tokyo; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5829-532) plans to build a 1,000-m.t./yr plant for producing the pharmaceutical precursor trimethyl orthoacetate (1,1,1-trimethoxyethane). The facility will utilize a continuous-flow, microreactor-based process that Nippoh Chemicals developed in cooperation with professor Jun-ichi Yoshida…
It’s an old saw, but I’ve long held that process development is very much a team effort. Developing safe, robust and scaleable chemical processes calls for close collaboration between synthesis chemists, process development engineers and pilot plant personnel.…