A microwave vessel heating system — said to be the first commercial, industrial-scale system of its kind — has been developed by Marion Mixers (Marion; www.marionmixers.com) in partnership with AMTek Microwave (Cedar Rapids, both Iowa; www.4amtek.com) with patent pending technology…
Oji Paper Co. (OJI; www.ojipaper.co.jp), in collaboration with Nippon Steel Engineering Co. (www.nsc-eng.co.jp) and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; all Tokyo, Japan; www.aist.go.jp), has started pilot testing of a new, integrated process for making cellulose-based…
A reduction of CO2 emissions of 50% can be achieved in steelmaking, using renewable carbon from biomass, according to The Australian Steel Industry CO2 Breakthrough Program, an R&D program conducted by a team from: BlueScope Steel Research (Port Kembla, New…
Fine polyester fibers Teijin Fibers Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; teijinfiber.com), the core company of the Teijin Groups polyester-fiber business, is commercializing a new version of its Nanofront, high-strength polyester nanofiber with a diameter of 400 nm — nearly half that…
Harnessing renewable energy by catalytic dissociation and synthesis of ammonia has shown promise for distributed power applications, according to a team from the Center for Energy at the University of Western Australia (www.uwa.edu.au), led by professor Dongke Zhang. In the…
Plant Watch UOP’s Oleflex technology selected by Dow Chemical January 6, 2012 — UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, has been selected by The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) to provide technology to produce propylene at…
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) says that Arlington Valley Solar Energy II, LLC (AVSE II), a member of LS Power Group, has awarded Fluor a lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, as well as a separate contract for ongoing…
JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) has been awarded a contract for a project to renovate cooling water facilities at a thermal power plant in Nassiriyah in southern Iraq. This marks the first post-Iraq War lump-sum contract for engineering, procurement, and…
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is planning to invest €80 million in the construction of a new pulp Chemical Island facility in Brazil. The plant, operated by the company's Pulp and Paper Chemicals business, Eka Chemicals, will supply the Suzano…
ThyssenKrupp AG (Essen, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp.com) and Outokumpu Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outokumpu.com) today announced the combination of Outokumpu with Inoxum, the stainless steel unit of ThyssenKrupp, to create a new global leader in stainless steel. Agreements to this effect have been…