In The News
BASF to build plant for sodium methylate in Brazil
BASF S.E. (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is planning to construct a production plant for sodium methylate in Guaratinguet‡, Brazil, its largest site in South America. The plant, which will have a capacity of 60,000 m.t./yr, will be the first such plant…
Akzo Nobel relocating its chelates HQ to China
AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals (Amersfoort, Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is relocating the headquarters of its chelates business from the Netherlands to China. The move has been prompted by the growing importance of the Asian market. “It is extremely important for us to be…
Emerson to digitally automate two glass plants in China
Emerson Process Management (Bredbury, Stockport, U.K.; www.emersonprocess.eu) has been selected, by the Zhejiang Changxing Glass Co., Ltd. and the Zhejiang Pinghu Glass Co., Ltd., to engineer and install PlantWeb digital architecture with DeltaV automation systems and Emerson’s intelligent field devices…
Kemira and Rockwood to form leading TiO2 JV
Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Finland; www.kemira.com) and Rockwood Holdings Inc. (Princeton, N.J.; www.rocksp.com) have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) that includes both parties’ titanium dioxide businesses and the functional additives business owned by Rockwood. The transaction values Kemira’s TiO2…
CAC wins order for Russian membrane electrolyzer
Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH (CAC; Germany; www.cac-chem.de) has been awarded a new contract for the planning and construction of a membrane electrolysis plant by the Russian large-scale enterprise “Soda-Chlorat Ltd.”, Berezniki/Perm region. This contract follows the construction of the first membrane…
Alstom to build large biomass-processing facility in U.K.
Drax Group plc (www.draxgroup.plc.uk), a power generation business, and Alstom (Paris, France; www.power.alstom.com), a global leader in power generation technology, have today announced the signing of an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, of some £50 million, between Drax Power…
Topsoe technology for large ammonia plant in Algeria
A contract for the supply of Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) process technology and catalysts for two ammonia plants has been signed with the Algeria Oman Fertilizer Co. (El Djazairia El Omania Lil Asmida SPA) — a joint venture…
Chementator: Foundation for SIF Demonstrations
This month, the newly released Foundation for Safety Instrumented Functions (SIF) was demonstrated at Shell Global Solutions (Amsterdam, Netherlands) — one of several demonstrations planned by the Fieldbus Foundation (FF; Austin, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-545). In Amsterdam, engineers constructed a DCS-controlled demo…
Chementator: Printing Solar Cells
Photovoltaics manufacturer Konarka Technologies, Inc. (Lowell, Mass; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-546) has successfully performed the first use of drop-on-demand inkjet printheads for the fabrication of organic solar cells. Using a Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP) provided by Fujifilm Dimatix (edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-547), Konarka’s process suggests an…
Chementator: Alaskan Gas
BP (London; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-548) and ConocoPhillips (Houston, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7372-549) have combined resources to start Denali — the Alaska Gas Pipeline. The pipeline will move approximately 4 billion ft 3 /d of natural gas to markets, and is said to be the…