Newsfronts
Grappling with Graphene: The race to commercialization
In the ten years since its first isolation by a pair of physicists, the single-atom-thick…
Commentary
Counterintuitive revamp results
At the 2011 Spring AIChE meeting (Chicago, Ill.), Sean Hennigan of BP gave a presentation…
In The News
Chementator
Reduce energy costs by combining wastewater treatment and desalination
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO; Kawasaki, Japan; www.nedo.go.jp) and Global Water Recycling…
Imitating nature leads to a better catalyst
An inexpensive and scalable composite catalyst that is said to outperform platinum for oxygen reduction…
A process that recovers rare-earth elements from ‘urban mining’
Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.electrochem-technologies.com) has recently patented a process for recovering…
Using algae to make beta-1,3- glucan
With a separate algae-based technology, Algal Scientific has invented a sterile fermentation process for making…
Using algae to clean wastewater
Technology developed by Algal Scientific Corp. (Northville, Mich.; www.algalscientific.com) uses algae to remove soluble organics,…
This PEM fuel cell has H2 storage built-in
Conventional hydrogen-based systems designed to store electrical energy (from solar arrays, for example) typically feed…
This demonstration plant makes bioethanol from tapioca residue
In April, a demonstration plant started up that makes bioethanol from cassava residue — a…
June Chementator Briefs
Pilot bioreactor A next-generation photobioreactor is scheduled to be installed in June at the…
Recover waste heat with ORC technology
Last April, Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany; www.siemens.com/energy) introduced the Siemens organic Rankine cycle (ORC) modules,…
Business News
Ineos to acquire BASF’s share in Styrolution
Ineos (www.ineos.com) will acquire BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) 50% share in Styrolution, a joint…
Solvay and Ineos to create chlorovinyls producer, Inovyn
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has signed a definitive agreement with Ineos to create a…
Foster Wheeler awarded contract for steam-reformer heater in Russia
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) says today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering…
Outotec to provide smelting technology for Nyrstar's Port Pirie redevelopment in Australia
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Nyrstar, a global integrated mining and metals…
Jacobs Awarded Contract by Ashta Chemicals
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) says that it was awarded a contract to…
Oxea completes specialty esters plant in Nanjing
Oxea (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) says that its specialty esters plant in Nanjing, China, is now…
ExxonMobil Chemical Co. begins multi-billion dollar expansion project in Baytown
ExxonMobil Chemical Co. (Houston; www.exxonmobile.com) says that it has started construction of a multi-billion dollar…
Lanxess opens new rubber-production line in Dormagen
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has completed the expansion of its Baypren polychloroprene solid rubber…
Novasep-MIE consortium to construct the first sorbitol production plant in Vietnam
Novasep (Pompey, France; www.novasep.com), a leading supplier of services and technologies to the life science…
Kobe Steel’s compressor company opens in Brazil
Kobe Steel, Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kobelco.com) announces that its subsidiary company, Kobelco Machinery do Brazil…
Solvay opens R&I center at Korea's Ewha Womans University
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has opened its new Research & Innovation (R&I) center at…
Linde and BASF intend to jointly develop on-purpose butadiene technology
The Linde Group (Pullach, Germany; www.linde.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) intend to cooperate…
Topsoe lays foundation for first ever integrated methanol and ammonia plant in Russia
On May 20, a foundation stone laying ceremony was held at the construction site of…
AkzoNobel inaugurates membrane-electrolysis plant in Germany, and more business news
Plant Watch Kemira to build sodium chlorate plant for pulp mill in Brazil May 9,…
Technical & Practical
Compressors for Specialized Applications
Compressors for specialized chemical process industries (CPI) applications — particularly high-pressure applications (involving large- and…
Bio-based adipic acid
Adipic acid is a dicarboxylic acid that is widely applied to the production of nylon,…
Fine Tune the Design of Sour-water Strippers Using Rate-based Simulation
Sour-water strippers (SWSs) are common in petroleum refineries, as well as gas-processing and gasification plants,…
Combining the use of Rupture Discs with Relief Valves
Pressure-relief solutions are commonly used in the chemical process industries (CPI) to ensure safe working…
Industrial Control Systems Security: The Owner-Operator’s Challenge
Ensuring the security of industrial control systems (ICS) can be a daunting and complex task,…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Construction-Cost Indices
Cost estimation is a critical dimension of project planning in asset-heavy industries such as the…