Latest News: Business
Uhde wins contract for a clean-fuels production plant in Romania
Petrom S.A. of Romania has commissioned Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany; www.uhde.biz) to build a gasoline desulphurization plant at its refinery located in Brazi, some 50km north of Bucharest. This clean-fuels plant is scheduled to come on-stream in early 2009 with…
Shell and Iogen to accelerate a next-generation biofuel
Royal Dutch Shell plc (The Hague, Netherlands; www.shell.com) and its subsidiaries and Iogen Corp. (Ottowa, Canada; www.iogen.ca) today announced an extended commercial alliance to accelerate development and deployment of cellulosic ethanol. The terms of the agreement include a significant investment by…
GEA Group acquires Norbco
GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com) has further strengthened its Farm Technologies Division through the acquisition of Norbco, Inc. (Westmoreland, NY). Norbco, Inc., has so far been the sole and exclusive supplier of conventional heavy- and medium-duty milking parlor stalls…
CSB determines causes of massive propane fire at Valero refinery
A massive fire that injured four workers and caused the total shutdown and evacuation of the Valero McKee Refinery in Sunray, Tex., in February 2007 likely occurred after water leaked through a valve, froze, and cracked an out-of-service section of…
Ashland acquires Hercules for $3.3-billion
Ashland Inc. (Covington, Ky.) and Hercules Inc. (Wilmington, Del.) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Ashland would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hercules for $18.60 per share in cash and 0.093…
Airgas to build 450 ton/d liquid CO2 plant
Airgas, Inc. (Radnor, Pa.; www.airgas.com) today announced that it will build a new 450-ton/d liquid-carbon-dioxide plant at the First United Ethanol LLC, (FUEL) complex in Camilla, Ga. Airgas entered into a 15-year agreement with FUEL, which will supply the feedstock…
UOP Selected by PetroChina for New Refining and Petrochemicals Complex
PetroChina Sichuan Petrochemical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the PetroChina Co., Ltd. (Beijing; www.petrochina.com), has selected UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) to supply technology, basic engineering services and equipment for a new integrated refining and petrochemicals complex, according to…
Dow Chemical to acquire Rohm and Haas
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.) and Rohm and Haas (Philadelphia, Pa.) today announced a definitive agreement, under which Dow will acquire all outstanding shares of Rohm and Haas common stock for $18.8 billion ($78 per share) in cash. The…
Uhde to build turnkey urea plant for Yara
The Dutch company Yara Sluiskil B.V., part of the Norwegian chemicals group Yara International ASA, has commissioned Uhde GmbH (Dortmund, Germany; www.uhde.biz) to design and build a major urea plant at its production site in Sluiskil (Zeeland Province), near the…
Thermal black project in Russia
Evonik Industries AG’s (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) Inorganic Materials Business Unit and the Russian Synttech Group are considering working together to manufacture Thermal Blacks. On June 30, 2008 representatives from both companies signed a letter of intent in Frankfurt, Germany. In…