In The News
TÜV SÜD steps up its activities in the global CPI
International provider of testing and certification services TÜV SÜD AG (Munich, Germany; www.tuev-sued.de) has taken over Mechanical Integrity Inc. (Humble, Tex.; www.mi-nde.com). By acquiring the non-destructive testing and mechanical integrity specialists, TÜV SÜD is extending its range of global services…
Joint development of new organic semiconductors
Merck KGaA (Darmstadt; www.merck.de) and Plastic Logic GmbH (Dresden, both Germany; www.plasticlogic.com) today announced plans to jointly develop, test and commercialize Merck’s new organic semiconductors in Plastic Logic’s displays. The production and launch of these new materials are planned for…
Grace and Borealis sign catalyst agreement
W. R. Grace & Co. (Columbia, Md.; www.grace.com) today announced a new multi-year agreement to supply polypropylene (PP) catalysts to Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria; www.borealisgroup.com), a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed. Grace…
Pöyry awarded biomass boiler engineering project in U.S.
We Energies (Milwaukee, Wisc.; www.we-energies.com) has awarded Pöyry Oyj (Hessinki, Finland; www.poyry.com) an engineering contract for a €185-million capital project for a new 50-MW biomass cogeneration plant to be constructed at the Domtar paper mill facility in Rothschild, Wisc. The…
SGL & BMW: New carbon fiber plant for U.S.
SGL Group SE (Wiesbaden, Germany; www.sglcarbon.com) and BMW Group (Munich, Germany; www.bmwgroup.com) jointly announced today at an event in Seattle that their joint venture, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers LLC, will build a state-of-the-art carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Moses Lake,…
Technip wins two contracts for Indian refinery
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) has been awarded two contracts by Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) for its diesel hydrotreater project in the Visakh petroleum refinery, on the east coast of India. The two contracts, which are scheduled to be completed by…
A quick way to tell when to pick cotton
An instrument called the Cottonscope, which automatically measures cotton maturity in 25 s, has been developed by CSIRO Cotton Research Unit (Melbourne, Australia; www.csiro.au). The unit’s leader, Stuart Gordon, says the instrument has been used to measure when a crop…
Commercial production of carbon nanotubes
This month, Showa Denko K. K. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) will begin marketing its carbon-nanotube (CNT) product, tradenamed VGCF-X. The company produces the CNTs in its new, 400-ton/yr production plant at its Oita facility, and plans to ramp up production to…
A CO2-to-fuel process demonstrated
Scientists at Carbon Sciences Inc. (Santa Barbara, Calif.; www.carbonsciences.com) have successfully demonstrated a CO2-to-fuel process that proceeds under mild conditions using fluegas emissions as a carbon dioxide source and brackish water as a hydrogen source. The modular, three-step process is…
The Road to Recovery
Like most other businesses, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms have felt the pinch of the economic downturn. While EPCs that specialize in building processing plants are optimistic that recent global interest in renewable and bioprocessing projects to create alternative…