Chemical Engineering
OCI Global to sell Texas clean-ammonia project to Woodside for $2.35 billion
OCI Global N.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) announced that it has reached an agreement for the sale of 100% of its equity interests in its Clean Ammonia project under construction in Beaumont, Texas (OCI Clean Ammonia), to Woodside Energy Group Ltd.…
Lubrizol to invest $200 million to construct its largest manufacturing plant in India
The Lubrizol Corp. (Cleveland, Ohio) announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding to purchase a 120-acre plot in Aurangabad, India, where it plans to construct a new manufacturing facility to initially support the region’s growing transportation and industrial fluid…
Veolia North America sells its acid-regeneration business for $620 million
Veolia (Paris) announced that its subsidiary Veolia North America has signed an agreement for the divestment of Veolia North America Regeneration Services, which includes its sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid regeneration activities for refineries, to private equity firm American Industrial…
Biomimetic membrane may have promising applications
Researchers from the Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI; Fribourg, Switzerland; www.ami.swiss), together with international collaborators, have pioneered a novel method for creating thin, energy-converting membranes that mimic the structure and function of biological cell membranes. This discovery, described in a recent…
Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 into a range of chemicals
At Achema in June, GIG Karasek GmbH (Gloggnitz, Austria; www.gigkarasek.com) introduced the ECO2Cell, an electrochemical CO2-recycling technology that utilizes proprietary catalysts to convert captured carbon dioxide into a range of chemicals. Using only water, CO2 and electricity as process inputs,…
New bio-based concrete admixture is scaling up production
A new biomass-based liquid admixture for concrete uniquely combines the benefits of traditional performance-enhancing additives with decarbonization. Hydrous bio-graphene oxide (hBGO), developed by AlterBiota (Edwardsville, Nova Scotia, Canada; www.alterbiota.com), is a stable, high-solids dispersion that helps to improve strength and…
A biocatalytic process for producing nitriles — without cyanide
Nitrile compounds (R–N≡N) are important for the manufacturing of fragrances, pharmaceuticals, superglue and chemical-resistant gloves. Currently, such nitrile compounds require the use of highly toxic cyanide in their synthesis. Now, an alternative cyanide-free chemo-enzymatic cascade process is being developed by…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Understanding Energy Efficiency in a Fired Heater
Process heating systems are critical parts of chemical process industries (CPI) facilities. Unfortunately, the reliable, efficient operation of utility systems is often taken for granted, and they receive little engineering attention. This is perhaps understandable, since these systems play a…
Public-Private Partnerships Spur Decarbonization Efforts
Government programs, such as the Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP) in the U.S., are helping to advance commercial-scale decarbonization strategies including thermal energy storage, CO2 utilization and electrification As the world continues to grapple with climate change, companies’ strategies for managing…
Effective Dust Collection: Capturing Dust and Accounting for Loading
Three of the critical aspects of dust collection systems are properly identifying necessary dust capture points, effectively capturing dust at each point and accounting for solids loading in the ductwork. Key considerations for these aspects are presented here Dust collection…