In The News
SNC-Lavalin: Coal mine expansion in Columbia
SNC-Lavalin, Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has signed a contract for the implementation of the first phase of the Cerrejon Coal Mine Project in Colombia. SNC-Lavalin, in a 50-50 joint venture (JV) with partner Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM; www.globalskm.com), will provide…
Metso: Gasification for renewable gas production
Metso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland; www.metso.com) will supply a gasifier to sustain new gasification technology to Göteborg Energi AB´s innovative project GoBiGas20MW. The value of the order is approximately €30 million, and the order was already included in Energy and Environmental…
Foster Wheeler: Feasibility study for KCl expansion
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) announced today that its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a feasibility study contract by Karnalyte Resources Inc. for the Wynyard Carnallite Potash Project in Saskatchewan, Canada. The study will consider initial…
Technip: Engineering contract for a FLNG in Malaysia
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com), in a consortium with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., has been awarded by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) and MISC Berhad a front-end engineering and design contract for a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit. The…
Chevron: Lubricants plant in Pascagoula, Miss.
Chevron Corp. (San Ramon, Calif.; www.chevron.com) has announced that Chevron Lubricants will commence construction of a lubricants manufacturing facility at the company's Pascagoula refinery. The $1.4-billion Pascagoula Base Oil Project (PBOP) is projected to generate approximately 1,000 jobs over the…
Elevance biorefinery on track for late-2011 commissioning
A manufacturing facility for bio-based intermediate and specialty chemicals under construction by Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. (Bolingbrook, Ill.; www.elevance.com) is on track to begin generating products late this year, according to the company. Located in Indonesia, the facility is currently…
A streamlined pre-treatment process for algae biodiesel
A pulsed-electric-field (PEF) pre-treatment technology to facilitate extraction of oils from algae cells was introduced recently by Diversified Technologies Inc. (Bedford, Mass.; www.divtecs.com). Algae have drawn considerable interest as a renewable source of biofuels, but the costs of algae-derived fuels…
Nippon Ketjen introduces new catalysts for residue hydrotreating
Nippon Ketjen Co. (Tokyo; www.nippon-ketjen.co.jp) has developed two new catalysts with enhanced properties for petroleum residue hydrotreating. KFR 15 removes metallic impurities, and KFR 93 removes sulfur from residues and contributes to the efficiency of residue hydrotreating units. For the…
Nanoparticle alloy could be an alternative to palladium
Kyoto University (Kyoto, www.kuchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp) professor Hiroshi Kitagawa has developed technology for synthesizing nanoscale particles of alloyed metals that could lead to alternatives to industrially important, but expensive, metals such as Pd and rare earth metals. Kitagawa’s group has used the…
Hybrid inorganic-organic membrane has enhanced stability
A silica-based amorphous material in which silicon atoms are linked to organic groups, as well as to oxygen, creates a pore network that tolerates aggressive chemical environments more effectively than conventional polymeric or ceramic membranes. Licensed by membrane manufacturer Pervatech…