In The News
KBR awarded FEED contract by VCNG
KBR (Houston, Tex.; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by Verkhnechonskneftegas (VCNG) to provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) services for the VC FFD Project located in the Eastern Siberia region of Russia. KBR will provide FEED services for a…
Oxea acquires production plant in the Netherlands
Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) has completed the acquisition of assets of the Amsterdam Esters Plant in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V. The acquisition will significantly strengthen Oxea’s position in specialty chemicals and provide both an extension…
Capacity to double for an oil-shale process
Outotec GmbH (Oberursel, Germany), a 100% daughter company of Outotec Oy (Helsinki, Finland; www.outotec.com) has received a €109-million contract for the design, delivery, construction and commissioning of a new oil-shale processing plant to be built in Narva, Estonia for Eesti…
An alternative to chlor-alkali
Earlier this year, NSR Technologies (Decatur, Ill.; www.nsr-tech.com) commercialized its patented process for producing potassium hydroxide (45–50 wt.%) and dilute hydrochloric acid via a membrane separations technology. The company’s flagship production facility in Decatur, Ill. is the first commercial application…
A replacement for Cr+6
Aculon, Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.aculon.com) has developed a formulation of its proprietary SAMP technology (Self-Assembled Monolayer of Phosphate) that can be used as an alternative to hexavalent chromium used in primers and conversion coatings to increase the adhesion of…
Chementator briefs for August
Bioplastics DSM Engineering Plastics (Sittard, Netherlands; www.dsm.com) has introduced EcoPaXX, a biobased, high-performance engineering plastic that is said to have a zero carbon footprint (100% carbon neutral from cradle to grave). Approximately 70% of EcoPaXX is made from building blocks…
Dow plans to shut down its ethylene oxide and glycol plant in the U.K…and more
Dow plans to shut down its ethylene oxide and glycol plant in the U.K... July 08, 2009 — The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.) has announced its intention to close its ethylene oxide and glycol (EOEG) production facility at Wilton,…
A silver-based antimicrobial
Pure Bioscience (El Cajon, Calif.; www.purebio.com) has developed silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC), the first antimicrobial approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, D.C.) in 30 years, with applications in the pharmaceutical, personal care, household, food and textile markets.…
Scaleup for a downer FCC process
In October, Nippon Oil Corp. (Tokyo, Japan;www.eneos.co.jp) will start constructing a high-severity fluidized-catalytic cracking (HS-FCC) unit, the first in the world that can produce large amounts of propylene from heavy fuel oils. The unit, located at Mizushima Refinery (Kurashiki-City), will…
Diamond lubricant cuts friction and increases equipment life
The lifetime of steel bearings can be extended by up to eight times by a new synthetic diamond lubricant, according to its developer, NanoLube, Inc. (Lombard, Ill.; www.diamondlube.com). The lubricant consists of 0.1–4-nm diamond spheres that are dispersed in a…