In The News
Chevron Phillips Chemical selects site for new PE facilities, and more business news
Plant Watch Outotec’s EOS process is selected for sinter project in India May 14, 2012 — Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been selected by Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. (BPSL) to design and deliver technology for a new iron-ore…
Detecting VOCs with a quantum-tunneling composite
A sensor that detects volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at levels of 10–100 parts per million (ppm) is being developed by Peratech Ltd. (Richmond, U.K.; www.peratech.com), with collaboration from the University of Durham (U.K.; www.dur.ac.uk). The so-called Electronic Nose is based…
The first synthesis and isolation of a ‘heavy ketone’
For the first time, researchers from Riken (Saitama, Japan; www.riken.go.jp) have synthesized stable crystals (photo) of a so-called heavy ketone — a compound in which the carbon of the C=O bond is replaced by Si, Ge, Sn or Pb. These…
Chlorine dioxide single-stage NOx scrubbing technology lowers costs
A new process for removing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from industrial foul-air and cool combustion exhaust uses ClO2 in a unique way to remove over 99% of both NO and NO2 with a single scrubbing stage. The reaction vessel is…
Distillation: Avoid Problems During Tower Startup
A variety of performance problems can arise in distillation towers during startup. Many are caused by equipment, hardware or process conditions. Hardware issues may be related to instrumentation, tower internals or ancillaries. Instrumentation malfunctions are also common during startup and…
Outotec awarded Cristal Global’s mega-size ilmenite smelter project in Saudi Arabia
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Cristal Global, the second largest titanium-dioxide-pigment producer in the world, on the design and delivery of technology and services for new ilmenite smelting facilities to be located in Jazan Economic City, Saudi…
Lanxess builds new plant for high-tech plastics in Belgium
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is investing €75 million in the construction of a new plant for high-tech plastics in Antwerp. The world-scale facility for polyamide plastics is designed for an annual capacity of 90,000 metric tons and scheduled to…
Air Liquide to build syngas-production unit in Dormagen
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) has signed a long-term contract to provide Bayer MaterialScience with large quantities of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. To meet this customer’s needs, Air Liquide will invest around €100 million in a H2 and CO production…
MHI awarded FEED contract for Hydrogen Energy California project
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo; www.mhi.co.jp) has been awarded a contract to perform the front-end engineering and design (FEED) services for the gasification and power island of the Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) project. Funded in part by the U.S.…
Lanxess investing in its French production site for tire rubbers
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is investing in its production site for high-performance rubber in Port Jérôme, France. The Group plans to invest some EUR 30 million by 2015 to further enhance productivity and energy efficiency. Lanxess produces the high-performance…