Following a strong fourth quarter in 2011, the U.S. economy started 2012 on firm ground with gains in consumer spending, manufacturing output and housing. However, those positive gains appear to be eroding, according to the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington,…
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB; www.csb.gov) has announced a public hearing to support its continued analysis of effective safety-performance indicators and to release preliminary findings into the agency’s investigation of the Macondo well blowout, explosion and fire in the…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) plans to build a butadiene extraction plant at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 155,000 metric tons (m.t.) and is scheduled to start up during 2014.…
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) was awarded by Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) a license, supply of basic engineering package and an engineering and procurement services contract for the Refinery Off-Gas Cracker (ROGC) plant. This contract is part of the expansion project…
Linde Engineering, a division of the Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com), is set to build a new Alpha-SABLIN plant for the production of linear alpha olefins (LAO) in Nizhnekamsk, Russian Federation, which upon completion will be operated by Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNH),…
Microchannel Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology developed by the Oxford Catalysts Group (Abingdon, U.K.; www.oxfordcatalysts.com) has been selected for use in a biomass-to-liquids (BTL) project under development in the U.K. by the U.S.-based company, Solena Fuels Corp. (Washington, D.C.; www.solenafuels.com). Solena was…
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded a contract by Reliance Industries Ltd. for providing technology for the world’s largest aromatics complex to be built at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India. "Our role as the exclusive licensor for BP's paraxylene technology…
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) has been awarded from Statoil (Trondheim, Norway; www.statoil.com) to undertake verification testing for a technology qualification program (TQP) for one of the world's largest carbon-dioxide-capture facilities. The approximately 3,400-ton/d CO2 recovery system…
Dyadic International, Inc. (Jupiter, Fla.; www.dyadic.com), a global biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzymes and other proteins for the industrial enzyme, bioenergy, and biopharmaceutical industries, has announced that its research and development center in…
Strong gains in capital spending by U.S. chemical manufacturers are expected during the next several years, according to the Mid-Year 2012 Situation and Outlook report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Capital spending for U.S. chemistry will…