KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by FPR Inc. (Houston) to provide Design and Early Engineering Services for the development of the Araromi Refinery Project in the OK Free Trade Zone (OKFTZ) in Nigeria. KBR will execute…
PEMEX Refinación (Mexico; www.ref.pemex.com) has selected Axens Prime-D technology for the production of ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) at its Salina Cruz, Minatitlan and Madero refineries. The scope of work will include license, pilot studies, optimization studies, basic and extended basic…
The Supervisory Board of BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has appointed Dr. Kurt Bock to succeed Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht as chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF. Dr. Martin Brudermüller will become vice chairman of the Board of…
Solvay Solexix (Solvay; Bollate, Italy; www.solvaysolexis.com) will begin to market its newly-developed Solvene polymer for applications in printed electronics with its partner Thin Film Electronics ASA (Thinfilm; Oslo, Norway; www.thinfilm.se) Solvay and Thinfilm started a collaboration, in 2007, in the…
Aker Solutions (www.akersolutions.com) has signed a contract with Ilim Group to supply an integrated chlorine dioxide plant for Ilim's pulp mill project in Bratsk, Russia. The contract value to Aker Solutions is approximately $18 million. Aker Solutions will supply technology, engineering,…
The Dow Corning Corp. (Midland, Michigan; www.dowcorning.com) has announced that it will invest up to $13 million to expand its European capabilities to innovate with silicon-based materials and technologies. The investment in a Solar Energy Exploration / Development Center (SEED)…
AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) has completed its acquisition of The Dow Chemical Co.’s (Dow; Midland, Michigan; www.dow.com) powder coatings activities, which was purchased by Dow in 2009 as part of its acquisition of Rohm and Haas. The deal was…
Novozymes A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark: www.novozymes.com), COFCO Ltd. (www.cofco.com/en) and Sinopec Corp. (both Beijing, China; english.sinopec.com) signed a Memorandum of Understanding covering the next steps towards commercialization of cellulosic biofuel in China. As part of the agreement, COFCO and Sinopec will build a…
A biomass-to-liquids (BTL) demonstration plant jointly operated by the Oxford Catalysts Group Plc. (Abingdon, U.K.; www.oxfordcatalysts.com) and the Portuguese incorporated holding company, SGC Energia (SGCE; www.sgc.pt), for the small-scale distributed production of biofuels has achieved some significant commissioning milestones. The…
Several economic reports out this week paint a largely positive picture for the recovery, but polyethylene production was down, according to the latest report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Arlington, Va.). Consumer confidence and personal incomes are generally on…