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Nouryon to double organic peroxides production capacity in Mexico
Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals; www.akzonobel.com) will double production capacity for solvent-based organic peroxides at its Los Reyes, Mexico site, enabling it to support the strong growth of the North American polyolefin and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) markets. The expansion is…
McDermott wins refinery upgrade contract in Czech Republic
McDermott International, Inc. (Houston; www.mcdermott.com) announced a sizeable contract award from Unipetrol RPA for engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for its petroleum refinery in Litvinov, Czech Republic. The contract includes the full suite of EPCM services for the…
Arkema starts up PEKK plant in Alabama
Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has successfully started up a Kepstan PEKK (Poly-Ether-Ketone-Ketone) plant at its site near Mobile, Alabama. This investment is a new step in Arkema’s ambitious growth strategy in high-performance polymers and advanced materials development. This investment, which…
Fluor begins pre-FEED work on Invista’s new adiponitrile plant in China
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) has started the pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) and FEED for INVISTA’s (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) new adiponitrile (ADN) manufacturing facility in China. The manufacturing facility is anticipated to have a production capacity of approximately 400,000…
VDMA large industrial plant engineering grows in a volatile environment
At €18.3 billion, incoming orders booked in Germany by members of the VDMA Large Industrial Plant Manufacturers ́ Group (AGAB; Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.vdma.org) in 2018 were 3% up on the previous year (2017: €17.8 billion). In a volatile…
BASF opens innovative research center for catalysts and processes in Ludwigshafen
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) today officially opened a pioneering research center at the heart of the Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, close to the famous Ammonia Lab. This new pilot plant facility for catalyst and process development will be operated…
Wacker’s ACEO Launches U.S. Based Open Print Lab
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.wacker.com) is launching its first U.S. based ACEO Open Print Lab. The new facility, located at Wacker’s Silicone R&D facility in Ann Arbor, Mich., is equipped with 3-D printers able to process a broad range…
Siemens launches an initiative for fast ramp-up of production facilities
Siemens AG (Munich and Berlin, Germany; www.siemens.com) has launched an initiative to enable fast ramp-up and reconfiguration of production facilities together with partner companies from the mechanical engineering, automotive, robotics and information technology industries. Companies can still register and present…
Hexion and Momentive respond to cyber-attacks
Chemical manufacturers Hexion Inc. (Columbus, Ohio; www.hexion.com) and Momentive (Waterford, N.Y.; www.momentive.com) announced, separately, that the companies have been responding to cybersecurity incidents. This follows a severe cyber-attack last week targeting Norwegian aluminum manufacturer Norsk Hydro and a December 2018…
Maire Tecnimont wins refinery revamp contract in Nigeria
Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) announced that its subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and Tecnimont Nigeria Ltd. have been awarded a contract for the “Phase 1 Rehabilitation Project” by Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), to carry out a complete integrity check…