This column is based on “Polyacrylonitrile Production – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/polyacrylonitrile-production-cost. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) is a polymer resin mainly composed of acrylonitrile. This important acrylic resin is used in the production…
U.S. Water Services, Inc. (St. Michael, Minn.; www.uswaterservices.com) today announced that is has joined the Kurita Water Industries Ltd. companies (www.kurita.co.jp) a leading international water management company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The acquisition was announced in early February 2019 and…
Covestro (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com ), one of the world’s largest polymer companies, and biotechnology company Genomatica have formed a partnership to research and develop high-performance materials based on renewable feedstocks. Both companies aim to reduce the use of fossil-based resources.…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), rose 0.1 percent in March on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, the first gain in five months. On a year-over-year…
Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) show that global chemicals production rose 0.1 percent in January. This follows a 0.3 percent gain in December, stable activity in November and a 0.1 percent gain…
The following recently published titles are relevant to various parts of the chemical process industries (CPI). Fluid Mechanics of Control Valves: How Valves Control Your Process. By Hans D. Baumann, International Society of Automation (ISA), 2019, 125 pages, $99.00. A…
With an eye toward a circular economy, technology developers are advancing a host of new approaches to chemical recycling of post-use commodity plastics Plastics are indispensable parts of almost every sector of the economy, with wide-ranging economic, environmental and convenience…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), posted a 0.0 percent change in February on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. On a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis, the barometer…
Accurate and continuous O2 determination plays a pivotal role in achieving safety and process reliability in a wide range of manufacturing processes. Harsh process conditions and maintenance requirements of sampling and conditioning systems can present challenges in procuring accurate and…
The preliminary value for the December 2018 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) decreased from the previous month’s value. This small decline follows an unchanged CEPCI value from November. The Equipment, Buildings and Engineering & Supervision subindexes all…