In The News
Alstom acquires coating services company
Alstom Power Inc. (www.power.alstom.com) acquired the business and facilities of Amstar Surface Technology Ltd. and Amstar International Ltd. (Houston, www.amstar-usa.com). Amstar specializes in thermal spray coatings that protect surfaces against corrosion, erosion and wear. The company had sales of approximately $11…
Foster Wheeler: Grassroots refinery in Iraq
Foster Wheeler AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.fwc.com) announced today that its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a feasibility study and front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil for a new grassroots refinery at Nassiriya…
ABB acquires K-TEK
ABB (Houston; www.abb.com) has agreed to acquire company K-TEK Corp. (Prairieville, La.; www.ktekcorp.com), which will join the Measurement Products business unit within ABB’s Process Automation division. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Terms were not disclosed. ABB expects the…
GEA to supply insulin-processing equipment for Julphar
GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com) recently received a €14-million order for insulin processing equipment from Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries Julphar (United Arab Emirates). Julphar’s new plant will make the life-saving drug more widely available to patients in the United Arab Emirates…
KBR: contract for Araromi Refinery Project
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by FPR Inc. (Houston) to provide Design and Early Engineering Services for the development of the Araromi Refinery Project in the OK Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) in Nigeria. KBR will execute…
PEMEX chooses Prime-D technology
PEMEX Refinación (Mexico; www.ref.pemex.com) has selected Axens Prime-D technology for the production of ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) at its Salina Cruz, Minatitlan and Madero refineries. The scope of work will include license, pilot studies, optimization studies, basic and extended basic…
A device to measure density and viscosity non-invasively
Ultimo Measurement (Providence, R.I.; www.ultimompd.com) has developed technology for measuring density and viscosity of process fluids, loose solids and mixtures non-invasively — a percussion-based device that can be mounted on the outside of process tanks, pipes or other vessels. The…
CNTs show promise as a filter and a catalyst support
Carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes developed by researchers at Rice University (Houston; www.rice.edu) could have applications as nanoparticulate filters, and as nanoscale scaffolds for catalysts. The devices are silicon dioxide wafers with laser-bored holes (~500-µm dia.). The holed wafers are subjected…
An enhanced photocatalyst for making H2 from water
Kazuhiro Sayama and colleagues at the Solar Light Energy Conversion Group at Energy Technology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST; Tsukuba, Japan; unit.aist.go.jp/energy), have developed a cesium-treated tungsten oxide photocatalyst that shows a 19% quantum…
Combined CO2 mitigation and H2S removal
Last month at the Global Refining Summit (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; May 17–19), Swapsol Corp. (Monmouth Junction, N.J.; www.swapsol.com) introduced a completely new sour-gas-cleanup process that reduces hydrogen sulfide levels below detectable levels (under 4 ppb) while reacting with carbon dioxide…