Chemical Engineering
Metso awarded detailed engineering contract by Rio Tinto for BioIron process
Rio Tinto (London) has awarded Metso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland) a detailed design and engineering contract for their continuous pilot plant (CPP) for the BioIron process for low-carbon ironmaking. The contract is an extension of the work that Rio Tinto and…
Honeywell and ZoneFlow complete steam-reforming pilot project in Belgium
Honeywell International Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) and ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, LLC (ZFRT; Windsor, Conn.) announced that they successfully conducted pilot plant testing of the ZoneFlow Reactor in ZFRT’s large-scale pilot plant at Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The near-commercial-level…
Evonik expands rubber silanes production in China
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) has expanded and started production at its rubber silanes plant, Evonik Lanxing (Rizhao) Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. This state-of-the-art facility, a joint venture between Evonik Industries AG, DEG (Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH), and Rizhao Lanxing…
Mitsui Chemicals breaks ground on new elastomers plant in Singapore
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) announced that it has held the groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce the high-performance elastomer Tafmer at its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore Pte Ltd (MELS). The ceremony was held on 28…
BASF announces capacity expansion for polyisobutenes
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) will increase the production capacity for its medium-molecular weight polyisobutenes, marketed under the tradename OPPANOL B, at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by 25%. The investment comes in response to the rising global demand for high-quality…
Wacker completes hydrogen chloride capacity expansion at Burghausen site
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany) recently finished expanding its production of hyperpure hydrogen chloride at its Burghausen site in Germany. The facility which was commissioned in mid-July significantly increased overall production. Buyers for the newly added production volumes come from…
Encina partners with Veolia for Pennsylvania Circular Manufacturing Facility
Encina Development Group, LLC (Encina), a producer of ISCC+ circular chemicals from end-of-life plastics, announced an agreement with global water treatment expert Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions, which will engineer, deliver, operate and maintain a world-class water treatment system for…
Standard Operating Procedures are Critical for Boiler and Steam Operations
An overview on the importance of standard operation procedures (SOPs) and how to write them Today, it is necessary to have standard operating procedures (SOPs) for steam and condensate systems, boilers, deaerators and even steam process units (Figure 1). An…
Digitalization progress and hurdles
At the 7th Connected Plant Conference, held June 25–28 in New Orleans, (CPC; www.connectedplantconference.com), attendees heard about significant progress made toward the digital transformation in the chemical process industries (CPI) along several fronts. However, complex challenges remain as organizations seek…
Facts At Your Fingertips: In-Service Heat-Transfer-Fluid Testing
Regular heat-transfer-fluid monitoring can prevent fluid problems that lead to equipment failure, costly downtime and repairs. Parameters to watch include viscosity, acid neutralization number, moisture, solid or residue content, thermal degradation and flash point. This one-page reference provides information on…