In The News
BASF building production plant for specialty zeolites in Ludwigshafen
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is investing in the construction of a production plant for specialty zeolites at its Ludwigshafen, Germany, headquarters site. The plant is expected to start up operations in the first quarter of 2014, significantly increasing BASF’s…
Foster Wheeler awarded contract for new Terrace Wall steam reformer in Russia
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) Nasdaq: FWLT) announced today that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by JSC Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, for the engineering and material supply of a new double-cell…
Foster Wheeler awarded BEP for MEG facility in Qatar
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) say that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by Shell Global Solutions International B.V. to develop a basic engineering package (BEP) for a world-scale mono-ethylene glycol…
Shell to construct world’s first oil sands CCS project
Shell (www.shell.com) says it will go ahead with the first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for an oil sands operation in Canada. The so-called Quest project will be built on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project joint venture…
Air Products to build a new ASU to supply Cangzhou Zhengyuan Fertilizer
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has signed a long-term contract with Cangzhou Zhengyuan Fertilizer Co., and will build, own and operate an air separation unit (ASU) and integrated gas liquefier in Hebei Province, China. The ASU will produce approximately…
SNC-Lavalin awarded EPCM contract for copper project in Chile
SNC-Lavalin Inc. (Montreal, Quebec, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has been awarded a contract by Minera Antucoya S.A., a subsidiary of Antofagasta Minerals S.A. (AMSA), to provide overall management, detailed engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the Antucoya project in Chile.…
Lanxess to build world’s largest EPDM plant in China
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is building the world’s largest plant for EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) synthetic rubber in China. The company is investing €235 million in the plant in Changzhou (Jiangsu Province). This is the largest investment the…
A step toward the production of fuel for nuclear fusion
Masaru Nakamichi, leader of the Blanket Technology Group, Naka Fusion Institute, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA, Ibaraki, Japan; www.naka.jaea.go.jp) has developed a new fabrication technology that enables the mass-production of beryllium intermetallic compounds (beryllides), which are advanced, efficient neutron multipliers…
Strain-hardening test method speeds HDPE pipe testing
A test method developed by SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp.; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) scientists drastically reduces the time needed to evaluate slow-crack growth resistance in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) that is used in pressure pipes. The strain-hardening test method allows…
September Chementator Briefs
Artificial photosynthesis Scientists at Panasonic Corp.(Osaka, Japan; www.pana sonic.com) have developed an artificial photosynthesis system that utilizes sunlight to convert CO2 to organic materials (mainly formic acid) at what is said to be the highest efficiency yet achieved (0.2%).…