In The News
Total Energy Ventures acquires an interest in Aquion Energy
Total Energy Ventures, the venture capital arm of Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com), is investing in Aquion Energy (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.aquionenergy.com), a start-up specialized in energy storage technology. Aquion Energy develops and manufactures energy storage systems, especially for renewable energies…
Praxair signs longterm contract for H2 supply in Peru
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has signed a longterm contract to provide hydrogen to Repsol, one of the world’s largest producers of petrochemicals. The new steam methane reformer (SMR) will be constructed at Repsol’s La Pampilla petroleum refinery, in the…
MHPS receives order for DeNOx system for power plant in Spain
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS; Yokohama Japan; www.mpshq.com), received an order from Hidroelectrica del Cantabrico, S.A., the Spanish power producer of EDP (Energia de Portugal) group, for two sets of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) type DeNOx systems for installation at…
KBR awarded FEED services contract butadiene expansion project in Saudi Arabia
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) for the debottlenecking and expansion of its Petrokemya Butadiene Extraction Plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Arabian Petrochemical Co. (Petrokemya), a…
Praxair to further expand New Mexico nitrogen facilities
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) says it will further expand liquid and gaseous nitrogen supply and storage at the company’s Kirtland, New Mexico, industrial gases facilities over the next two years. The expansion will more than triple its current capacity…
Vertellus acquires Pentagon Chemicals
Vertellus (Indianapolis, Ind.; www.vertellus.com), a leading producer of pyridine and pyridine derivative chemicals, today announced that it has purchased Pentagon Chemicals (Holdings) UK Ltd., a leading manufacturer of fine and specialty chemicals used in the life sciences industry. The acquisition…
KBR signs acetic-acid-technology alliance with Chiyoda
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has signed an agreement with Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.chiyoda-corp.com/en), a leading engineering and construction firm in Japan, to license its CT-Acetica technology. Chiyoda developed the CT-Acetica process, a methanol-carbonylation process that uses methanol and carbon…
Making nanoparticles
Scientists from the Materials Science and Technology Div. of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, D.C.; www.nrl.navy.mil) have developed a one-step process to form oxide nanoparticles. The technique is capable of producing large quantities (10 g) of oxide nanoparticles —…
Graphene surprise
Researchers from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia; www.monash.edu.au) have discovered that graphene-oxide sheets can change their structure and become liquid droplets spontaneously. Because graphene droplets change their structure in response to an applied magnetic field, they could be used for controlled…
Kemira inaugurates its largest water-treatment chemicals plant; and more business news
PLANT WATCH Kemira inaugurates its largest water-treatment chemicals plant October 9, 2014 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki; www.kemira.com) has inaugurated its biggest manufacturing plant for water-treatment chemicals. Located in Dormagen, Germany, the facility will produce 14 different specifications of acidic and alkaline…