Business & Economics
E&C changes
Last month, Air Liquide S.A. (Paris; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-543) acquired Lurgi AG (Frankfurt, Germany) from the GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-544). Although subject to approval by the European and U.S. competition authorities, the acquisition will enable the acceleration of growth in…
Dow will commercialize its Olefin-Block Copolymers technology
Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-531) will begin commercial-scale production of Infuse olefin-block copolymers (OBCs), using its Insite technology, in the third quarter of 2007. The company recently completed a trial manufacturing run of OBCs at the plant, which is…
Calendar – April
NORTH AMERICA RFID Journal LIVE Annual Conference and Exhibition. RFID Journal LLC (Melville, N.Y.). Phone: 631-249-4989; Fax: 631-980-4314; Web: rfidjournal.com Orlando, Fla. Apr. 30-May 2 Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Seminar. New Standard Inst. (Milford, Conn.). Phone: 203-783-1582;…
A sustainable route to succinic acid
A demonstration plant that will produce 5,000 m.t./yr of succinic acid from biomass will be built in Pomacle, France, by BioAmber, a joint venture of Diversified Natural Products (DNP, New York, N.Y.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-535) and Agro Industries Recherche et Developpement (ARD,…
A step closer to transporting natural gas hydrates
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. (MES; Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-540), in cooperation with Chugoku Electric Power Co. (Hiroshima, Japan), is building a pilot plant that will produce 5-m.t./d of natural gas hydrate (NGH). The plant, located at Chugoku Electric's Yanai Power…
Ethanol partnership
Mascoma Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-545) and Royal Nedalco (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands) have signed a license and joint-development agreement with the goal of commercializing ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Nedalco has developed modified yeasts that can produce ethanol from all…
Uniting on interoperability
It's a simple matter of fact: a chemical process plant operates by the products and services of numerous - and, unavoidably, competing - vendors. Since the resulting compatibility issues only hamper productivity, vendors, EPC firms and owner/operators alike tried to…
Green glycol
Last month, the Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-546) introduced Propylene Glycol Renewable (PGR), a monopropylene glycol that is made from glycerin generated during the production of biodiesel. Dow is conducting PGR trials with customers and anticipates having limited commercial…
Tri-generation
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-547) and FuelCell Energy Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-548) have begun construction on an advanced hydrogen-energy demonstration station. The station, funded in part from the DOE, will demonstrate tri-generation of hydrogen, electric power and heat from…
Target Costing
Free trade agreements, global manufacturing standards and the Internet have made it possible for companies to do business in countries they would not have considered 20 years ago. Open is a world of opportunity, but for processors of…