Plastic derived from corn, used mostly for bottles and cups, costs about 20% more than petroleum-based plastics, but has two desirable qualities: it comes from a renewable resource and is biodegradable. However, the use of the plastic — polylactic acid…
Graphene Laboratories Inc. (Reading, Mass.; www.graphenelab.com) and CVD Equipment Corp. (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; www.cvdequipment.com) recently announced the commercial launch of single-layer graphene films, marketed as CVDGraphene, grown by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Using slightly modified CVD equipment that has…
Last month at the IFAT Entsorga trade fair (September 13–17; Munich, Germany), Süd-Chemie AG (Munich; www.sud-chemie.com) introduced a chemical-free process that increases the energy production of wastewater-purification and biogas plants by as much as 30% while significantly reducing the disposal…
Improved C5 use Some 106,000 ton/yr of so-called spent C5 fraction is generated at Mitsui Chemicals Inc.’s (Mitsui; Tokyo, Japan; www.mitsuichem.com) naphtha cracker at its Chiba Factory. Presently, the company is selling about half of the C5 fraction (50,000 ton/yr)…
As demand for rare-earth metals in a wide range of technology applications continues to increase, efforts to reestablish mining and production of rare-earth elements (REEs) is underway outside China, currently the dominant force in REE production. Future supplies of REEs…
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been awarded an order from an Italian company IRASCO for the supply of technology for National Iranian Copper Industries Co.'s copper concentrator expansion located in Sarcheshmeh in Iran. The contract value is nearly €40…
HC Petrochem Co. has selected UOP LLC Des Plaines, Ill; www.uop.com) to provide technology for an expansion of its petrochemicals plant in Daesan, South Korea. HC Petrochem Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Japan’s Cosmo Oil (Tokyo) and Hyundai Oilbank…
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com), announced today that its Global Engineering and Construction Group, working with PetroAlgae Inc., (Melbourne, Fla.; www.petroalgae.com) has completed its initial testing of PetroAlgae's biomass, with encouraging results. The biomass, produced at PetroAlgae's micro-crop farm…
Toyo Engineering Corp. China, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp), has been awarded a contract for an ethanolamine (ETA) production plant to be constructed in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, by Honam Petrochemical Corp. (Korea;…
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced today that it was awarded the Project Hijau Gasoil Phase-1 by Shell Refining Company FOM Malaysia. The project comprises a new 6,000 metric tons (m.t.) per day diesel-processing unit located in Port Dickson, Malaysia.…