Bartec GmbH (Bad Mergentheim, Germany; www.bartec.de) has acquired Technor Safe Ex AS (Stavanger, Norway), one of the key markets for European oil-and-gas production, Technor heads its domestic market in the sale of explosion-proof equipment and systems. Typical applications for the…
GEA Mechanical Equipment (www.geaquipment.com), a segment of GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com) has received two major orders for the delivery of fuel systems for a gas-turbine power plant in Morocco and of decanters for the municipal wastewater clarification plant…
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)…
Spheripol process technology is chosen for new PP plant in China September 15, 2010 — LyondellBasell’s (Rotterdam, The Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) Spheripol process technology has been selected by Pucheng Clean Energy Chemical Co. for a new 400,000-ton/yr polypropylene (PP) plant to…
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) has been awarded two lump sum contracts by Valero Refining Co. and Diamond Shamrock Refining Co. (both part of the Valero group) for two hydrogen plants at their refineries in Memphis, Tenn. and McKee, Tex. The…
Standardized steam-methane-reforming (SMR) reactor units recently commercialized by Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) allow direct hydrogen production at customer sites at costs much lower than those associated with alternative H2 supply modes, including electrolysis and transporting compressed or liquefied H2.…
A group of Singapore researchers have reported a new approach to induce the coiling of prefabricated gold nanowires (AuNWs) inside polymer shells, leading to structures resembling torsion springs. In contrast to gas-phase methods that require high temperatures and are limited…
Photos: Teijin Group Toho Tenax Co. (Tokyo; www.tohotenax.com), the main company of the Teijin Group’s carbon fibers business, has commercialized a gas-diffusion layer (GDL) made of carbon fiber fabric for use as an electrode component for fuel cells. GDLs are…
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…