GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com) has decided to implement a multi-year investment program for its Mechanical Separation Division comprising a total volume of around 160-million euros. Besides being among the most cycle-resistant divisions within the GEA Group, the Mechanical…
Cutler Technology Corp. (San Antonio, Tex.; www.cutler-tech.com) has launched ADMC 64, its most-advanced model-predictive controller ( CE, November 2005, p. 15). With 64-bit resolution, the device easily handles 600 coefficients with calculation times under ten seconds (on an Intel quad…
The DuPont cellulosic ethanol joint venture (JV), DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE; Itasca, Ill.; www.dupontdanisco.com), has broken ground for its first pilot-scale biorefinery and state-of-the-art biofuels research and development facility in Vonore, Tenn. The JV has partnered with the…
Launched at ISA Expo 2008 this month (Houston, Tex.; October 14 – 16), the ELDS line-of-sight gas detectors from Senscient, Inc. (League City, Tex.) is said to deliver three orders of magnitude better sensitivity for detecting flammable gases and false-alarm…
As part of the European BioDME project, Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) and Chemrec will design and build a new plant for producing dimethyl ether (DME). Located at the Smurfit Kappa paper mill in Piteå, Sweden, the facility will…
In an effort to increase its operational flexibility, Oxea GmbH (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) has decided to produce butyric acid at its North American (N.A.) production site in Bay City, Texas. The existing carboxylic-acids production plant will receive significant upgrading in…
BASF Catalysts LLC (Iselin, N.J.; www.basf.com) has completed a significant debottlenecking project that has increased capacity at its production facility in Tarragona, Spain. The 25% capacity increase will help meet growing global demand for polypropylene catalysts. The expansion was completed…
Caloric Anlagenbau GmbH (Munich, Germany; www.caloric.com) has won the contract for another Hydrogen Generation Plant in France. Caloric will provide engineering, procurement and commissioning services for a new hydrogen plant and the corresponding distributed control system (DCS), using Caloric's HC…
IDEX Corp. (Northbrook, Ill.; www.idexcorp.com) today announced the acquisition of Richter Chemie-Technik (Kempen, Germany), a leading provider of premium quality lined pumps, valves and control equipment for the chemical, fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Richter’s corrosion resistant fluoroplastic lined products…
ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co. (Fairfax, Va.; www.exxonmobil.com/refiningtechnologies) has entered into an agreement with Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (Houston, Tex.; www.synthesisenergy.com) that provides SES the option to execute up to 15 methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) technology licenses in its global operations. SES…