In The News
Outotec: Effluent-treatment plant for Codelco
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has signed a contract with the main copper producer in the world, Chilean Codelco for the design and delivery of an effluent treatment plant for Codelco's new Mina Ministro Hales project close to Calama, Chile.…
ThyssenKrupp: Smart energy-efficiency program has saved around €45 million since 2009
Last year ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG (Duisburg, Germany; www.thyssenkrupp-steel-europe.com) launched a new energy efficiency program to further reduce energy costs at all its production locations. The results of the saving measures are impressive. The potential identified so far at the…
Black & Veatch: Three new LNG projects in China
China Natural Gas Co. (CNGC; Beijing, China) has selected Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.; www.bv.com) and Chemtex to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for three new liquefied natural gas plants in China. The new facilities will feature Black…
Solvay to double Solef PVDF production capacity
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has decided to increase its Solef production capacity by 50% to keep track of the continuously strong growing demand for this high added-value fluorinated specialty polymer. The capacity increase at Solvay's Tavaux plant, France, requires…
CB&I: FEED contract for Sohar Refinery in Oman
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded a contract valued in excess of $40 million by the Oman Refineries and Petrochemical Co. for the front end engineering and design (FEED) and project management services for the Sohar Refinery Expansion…
A scaled up microreactor for mass production
M Technique Co. (M Tech; Osaka, Japan; www.m-technique.co.jp) has commercialized the Ulrea SS-300, a scaled up version of the Ulrea SS-11 — a forced thin-film microreactor. With a production capacity nearly ten times higher than its predecessor, the Ulrea SS-300…
Vegetable-oil-based chemicals plant soon to be fully operational
In spring of this year, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM; Decatur, Ill.; www.adm.com) plans full operation of a chemical plant based on soybean and canola oils as renewable feedstock. Products of the plant will include refined glycerin, propylene glycol and…
Improved ethylene-oxide scrubber design can meet stringent regulations
Improvements in the design of ethylene oxide (EtO) scrubbers made by The Clean Air Group, Croll Reynolds Co. (Parsippany, N.J.; www.croll.com) have helped users meet increasingly stringent regulations for EtO emissions, as well as meet tower height restrictions. “Our designs…
Graphene improves the performance of water deionization
A research team from the University of South Australia (Adelaide; www.unisa.edu.au) and the East China Normal University (Shanghai; www.ecnu.edu.cn) has developed a capacitive deionization technology (CDI) that uses graphene-like nanoflakes as electrodes, instead of conventionally used activated carbon (AC) materials.…
Zero-liquid-discharge desalination system offers brine disposal alternative
A desalination system developed by Watervap LLC (Marble Hill, Ga.; www.h2ovap.com) separates saltwater of any concentration into highly purified water and dry solid minerals with high efficiency. The company’s Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) process represents a low-cost alternative to brine…