In The News
DOE funds next-generation efficient lighting
Building on his strong focus on energy efficiency in his first few days in office, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced today five manufacturing research and development projects to support energy efficient lighting products. The projects will focus on reducing…
Foster Wheeler acquires Mexican engineering company
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) has acquired NorthAm Engineering S.A. DE CV (NorthAm; Monterrey, Mexico), a privately held engineering company. NorthAm is one of the largest Mexican engineering and project management companies, with a track record in upstream, offshore…
Borealis inaugurates new catalyst plant at Linz site
Today, Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria; www.borealisgroup.com) has inaugurated a new catalyst plant at its Linz location. The company has invested €100 million in the construction of this facility, which will produce catalysts utilizing the proprietary Borealis Sirius catalyst technology. Catalysts…
Clariant achieves a further milestone in the manufacture of second-generation bioethanol
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) is demonstrating the international potential of its process for manufacturing sustainable biofuel through the expansion of Sunliquid technology to further agricultural residues. Following the opening of Germany’s largest demonstration plant for manufacturing ethanol from agricultural residues…
Air Products acquires EPCO
Expanding its portfolio of industrial gases offerings in North America, Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has has acquired EPCO Carbon Dioxide Products, Inc. (EPCO; Monroe, La.), a privately-held producer and marketer of liquid carbon dioxide. The acquisition also includes…
Evonik plans new precipitated-silica plant in Brazil, and more business news
Plant Watch Evonik plans new precipitated- silica plant in Brazil May 10, 2013 — Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has started basic engineering for a precipitated-silica plant in Brazil. Subject to the approval of the responsible bodies, Evonik aims…
A production plant for CNFs
Nippon Paper Industries Co. (Nippon Paper; Tokyo; www.nipponpapergroup.com) is constructing a verification plant for the production of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) at the Chemical Div. of its Iwakuni Mill. Scheduled to start up in October, the facility will have a production…
A safer, cleaner way to obtain tantalum and niobium
Tantalum and niobium, which are often found in complex ores, are essentially chemically inert metals whose recovery involves some harsh measures: typically dissolution of the metals concentrate in a mixture of concentrated hydrofluoric and sulfuric acids, followed by solvent extraction…
An improved H2SO4 alkylation process gains acceptance
An improved H2SO4 process developed by CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has now been licensed to three companies, all in China. The first licensee was Ningbo Haiyue New Material Co. Ltd., which is building a 600,000-m.t./yr plant near Ningbo City,…
A new butadiene process is set for commercialization
China’s largest private chemical EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contractor, Wison Engineering Ltd. (Wison; Shanghai; www.wison.com) has recently introduced details about its proprietary butadiene technology, which is set for commercialization. The process aims to meet the anticipated growth in annual butadiene…