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CE Podcast: Andreas Eschbach, CEO of eschbach
On this episode of the Chemical Engineering podcast, senior editor Scott Jenkins is joined by eschbach Europe and North America founder and CEO Andreas Eschbach, who discusses the progress and implications of the digital transformation in the chemical process industries,…
Wacker opens new silicones production site in India
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany) opened a new production site for silicones in Panagarh, India. The plant, which is situated 160 km northwest of Kolkata, will manufacture silicone rubber and ready-to-use silicone compounds for electromobility, medical technology and electrical transmission…
Lummus and Clariant announce successful startup of world’s largest Catofin PDH unit
Lummus Technology (Houston; www.lummustechnology.com), a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, and its catalyst partner Clariant, announced the successful startup and acceptance of Qingdao Jinneng New Material Co.'s 900,000 metric tons per annum CATOFIN propane dehydrogenation…
Trinseo and GMP Group announce plans for polystyrene recycling plant in the Netherlands
Trinseo (Berwyn, Pa.) and GMP Group (GMP), a circular business innovations company in the Netherlands, announced jointly their intended concerted efforts in further unlocking the circularity of polystyrene (PS). Trinseo and GMP’s collaboration aims at providing a framework for cooperation,…
Sumitomo Chemical announces “turquoise” hydrogen joint research project
Sumitomo Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan) and the National Institute of Technology Asahikawa College announced that they will accelerate joint research on a catalyst and a process for low environmental impact commercial production of turquoise hydrogen, along with joint research into…
BASF and MAN Energy Solutions enter into partnership for construction of one of the world’s largest heat pumps in Ludwigshafen
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen) and MAN Energy Solutions SE (Augsburg, both Germany) have entered into a strategic partnership to pursue the construction of an industrial-scale heat pump at the BASF site in Ludwigshafen. This project is intended to make an important…
Traversing a Data-Powered Supply Chain
Transporting chemical products across global supply chains is complex and challenging, but data-supported technologies are helping to improve efficiency, sustainability and reliability Materials produced by the chemical process industries (CPI) are used in nearly all global product chains. According to…
Business News: July 2022
Plant Watch Solvay completes PVDF capacity expansion in Changshu June 13, 2022 — Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) has significantly increased production capacity for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) at the company’s site in Changshu, China. Solvay has now more than doubled…
Tower Doctor: A Quick Diagnosis Makes a Short Assignment
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers On an assignment to troubleshoot a vacuum tower for a petroleum refinery, my team was tasked to “run simulations to determine why the heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO) has a very…
Focus on Pumps
Track pump operation with this monitoring system This company has developed Smart Monitoring for its ecoflow and triplex metering and process diaphragm pumps (photo). A combination of sensors integrated into the pump and software-based evaluation provides the user with comprehensive…