Improve Your Contingency Estimates for More Realistic Project Budgets
The average large project in the chemical process industries (CPI) overruns its sanctioned budget, including…
Cover Story
Commentary
Redesigning our look
Technology continues to change at a rapid pace — particularly when we look at recent…
In The News
Newsfronts
Winning with Electrochemistry
These days, the term electrochemistry has become almost synonymous with advanced batteries and energy-storage devices,…
Chementator
Explosion-proof enclosure for world’s largest gas-to-urea plant
Protective-enclosure maker Intertec Inc. (Sarnia, Ont.; www.intertec.info) is building a unique, explosion-proof, pressurized shelter for…
A new method for making beryllium-aluminum alloys expands accessibility
New techniques and equipment for manufacturing cast components made from beryllium-aluminum alloys can reduce the…
A new metals-recovery process moves to the pilot scale
Significant improvements to a process to extract vanadium, titanium and iron from the Mount Peake…
Carbon mineralization process monetizes CO2 from fluegas
The Capitol SkyMine project in San Antonio, Tex. utilizes fluegas from an existing cement plant…
Commercial debut for a new bioleaching process
Division Radomiro Tomic of Codelco (Codelco Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile; Santiago; www.codelco.www) is…
H2 and CO2 from APG
Last month, Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama; www.chiyoda-corp.com) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (Tokyo, both Japan; www.mhi.com)…
Coating for extremes
A coating that can protect turbine-engine and waste-incinerator components against heat and oxidation has been…
Sweet surfactants
A new range of sugar-based surfactants for skin- and hair-care products has been commercialized by…
This antifreeze is edible
Since 2010, Kaneka Corp. (www.kaneka.co.jp) and Kansai University (both Osaka, Japan; www.kansai-u.ac.jp) have been collaborating…
Efficient distillation
Last month, Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, www.toyo-eng.co.jp) was awarded a contract for a distillation…
Advanced Coatings for New Applications
Changing markets and new applications are putting more demands on the protective coatings industry than…
Synthesizing omega-3 lipids from waste gases and algae
A collaboration between LanzaTech (Skokie, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com) and the IOC-DBT Center for Advanced Bio-Energy Research…
This methane-to-methanol process operates at low temperatures
A process that continuously produces methanol from methane is being developed by the Gas Technology…
These batteries charge faster, last longer
A new lithium-ion battery that can be recharged in only two minutes — 20 times…
Business News
KBR signs ammonia technology alliance with PT Rekayasa Industri
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has signed an agreement with PT Rekayasa Industri (REKIND) to provide…
KBR awarded catalytic olefins technology contract
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) recently won a contract, by Lotte Chemical Titan (M) SDN. BHD.,…
Solvay boosts resin production capacity in India
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is increasing resin production capacity at its plant in Panoli,…
BASF launches FCC catalysts testing and research laboratory in Heidelberg
BASF SE’s (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) Refining Catalysts business today launched a new fluid catalytic cracking…
KBR awarded FEED contract for butadiene expansion project in Saudi Arabia; and more business news
Plant Watch Momentive to construct two formaldehyde plants in Louisiana November 10, 2014 —…
Technical & Practical
Fire-Water Pumps for CPI Facilities
FIGURE 1 Fire-water pump assemblies are typically skid-mounted to ease installation and operation. Shown here…
Feature Report
Achieving Excellence in Energy Efficiency
In today’s environmentally conscious world, industrial energy management is increasingly recognized as an essential business…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Distillation Column Modeling
Process simulation methods are used to evaluate the performance of proposed distillation systems and improve…
Technology Profile
n-Butanol from Lignocellulosic Feedstock
The alcohol n-butanol is applied in the production of butyl acrylates to supply the coatings…
Solids Processing
Solids Handling: Using Flowsheet Simulation to Improve Process Design
Using flowsheet simulation to model processes involving granular solids — either those that are entirely…
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Economic Indicators
Current Trends
The preliminary value for the October CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available)…