A new way to obtain hydrogen from heavy oil
The volume of heavy, sour crude oil processed by North American refineries is steadily increasing,…
In The News
Chementator
Low-cost production of PHA from air and greenhouse gases
Newlight Technologies (Irvine, Calif.; www.newlight.com) has launched commercial production of a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) thermoplastic made…
A highly active catalyst for making NH3
The research groups of Hideo Hosono and Michikazu Hara at the Materials and Structures Laboratory,…
A photocatalyst for destroying viruses
Meanwhile, professor Kazuhito Hashimoto at the University of Tokyo (Japan; www.light.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp) has developed new photocatalyst…
A patented process produces battery-grade lithium
Lithium producer Galaxy Resources Ltd. (Perth, Western Australia; www.galaxylithium.com) says that lithium carbonate product from…
A new photocatalyst for VOC destruction
A process for manufacturing fine particles of titanium dioxide that exhibits a high level of…
December Chementator Briefs
Rotary atomizer Engineers at Dedert Inc. (Homewood, Ill.; www.dedert.com) have developed a high-speed rotary…
A boost for bio-butanol production
Lately there has been much renewed interest in fermentative production of n-butanol from renewable biomass…
Scaleup for a microbial process that produces acetic acid from offgases
A demonstration plant for the production of acetic acid from the carbon dioxide in industrial…
Business News
KBR’s first VCC-technology processing unit in Russia enters construction phase
In February 2012, KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) signed an agreement with TAIF-NK (www.en.taif.ru) to establish a…
BASF to sell Meyco Equipment business to Atlas Copco
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has signed a contract with Atlas Copco to sell its…
Evonik expands U.S. production of precipitated silica
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) plans to increase its annual production capacities for precipitated…
Jacobs receives contract from Aura Minerals for copper mine expansion
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) was awarded a contract by Aura Minerals Inc.…
MHI, Sojitz and RC receive order for acrylic acid plant from Gazprom
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) and Sojitz Corp., jointly with Renaissance Construction…
Oregon to have its first in-pipe hydroelectric system
The City of Portland, Oregon and Lucid Energy (Portland, Ore.; www.lucidenergy.com), have reached an agreement…
Technip awarded EPC contract by BASF
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip), in a consortium with Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/chemicals, was…
Caloric to supply H2-generating plant to the Czech Republic
Caloric Anlagenbau GmbH (Gräfelfing, Germany; www.caloric.com) has won the contract for a hydrogen generating plant…
Foster Wheeler awarded PMC contract for clean-fuels project in Kuwait
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) says that its Global Engineering and Construction Group has…
Outotec to provide gas cleaning, sulfuric acid and effluent-treatment technologies for Namibia Custom Smelters
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) and Namibia Custom Smelters have agreed on the design and…
Toyo wins fertilizer plant order in Indonesia
The consortium of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) and PT Rekayasa Industri (Rekind)…
AkzoNobel to divest its North American Decorative Paints business
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, The Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) today announced the divestment of its North American Decorative Paints…
KBR awarded ammonia-technology license agreement by Indorama
KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) announced today that Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd. (“Indorama”) has selected…
Outotec gets marketing rights for Ausmelt TSL zinc fuming technology
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has received the global marketing rights for the Ausmelt Top…
CP Kelco announces CMC capacity expansion plans
CP Kelco (Atlanta, Ga.; www.cpkelco.com), a world-leading carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) producer, today announces plans to…
Stamicarbon wins licensing and supply contracts for urea plant in China
Stamicarbon B.V. (Sittard, The Netherlands; www.stamicarbon.com), the Licensing and IP Center of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A.…
AMEC awarded PMC contract for a new refinery in Kuwait
AMEC (London, U.K.; www.amec.com) has been awarded a $528 million (£330 million) Project Management Consultancy…
Tecnimont lands LDPE contract in Mexico
Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) says that its main subsidiary Tecnimont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy)…
Fluor wins contract for new Ma'aden phosphate project in Saudi Arabia
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) was awarded a new project by Saudi Arabian Mining Company…
Toyo wins world’s largest single-train urea plant in Nigeria
Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) and its consortium partner Daewoo Nigeria Ltd. have…
BASF building production plant in Poland for emissions catalysts and more business news
Plant Watch BASF building production plant in Poland for emissions catalysts November 6, 2012 —…
Technical & Practical
Coal Gasification For Chemicals
Compared to petroleum refining, the coal gasification process appears less complex. The chemistry behind the…
CPI Machinery: Commissioning, Startup and Piping
When it comes to rotating machinery (pumps, compressors, gas turbines, steam turbines, turbo-expanders, and others)…
Clearing the Air About Respiratory Protection
Airborne respiratory hazards are a very real threat in the chemical process industries (CPI). Existing…
Avoiding Project Failures
Companies in the chemical process industries (CPI) spend billions of dollars every year on capital…
Selection of an Optimum Gasification Product
Equipment for generating synthesis gas (syngas; mostly CO and H2) is typically the most expensive…
Batch Control: Controller- Versus Server-Based Sequencers
When designing a batch system, engineers often select the control solution based on the size…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Wet Scrubbers
Wet fluegas desulfurization (FGD), also known as wet-scrubbing, is a popular pollution-abatement technique for removing…