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Elkem to acquire Chinese silicone manufacturer Polysil

Elkem ASA (Oslo, Norway; www.elkem.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire all of the shares in Polysil, a leading Chinese silicone elastomer & resins material manufacturer with strong positions in baby-care and food-grade silicones, as well as silicone products…

Lenzing and Duratex to jointly build world-scale dissolving wood-pulp plant in Brazil

The Lenzing Group (Lenzing, Austria; www.lenzing.com) and Duratex, the largest producer of industrialized wood panels in the southern hemisphere, announce that they will jointly build a 500,000-ton dissolving wood-pulp plant in the State of Minas Gerais, near Sao Paulo (Brazil).…

Sumitomo completes construction of two catalyst manufacturing lines in Chiba

Sumitomo Chemical Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp) has completed construction of two catalyst manufacturing lines in its Chiba Works location (Ichihara, Chiba, Japan) to meet the demand of companies licensing its polypropylene (PP) and propylene oxide (PO) manufacturing technology, in order…

CPI outlook slower, but positive

Despite a slowdown in global manufacturing, the U.S. chemical process industries (CPI) have continued to expand and remain a positive contributor to growth. In its “Year-End 2019 Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook,” which was issued in December, the American Chemistry…

Recently Published Books for Chemical Process Industries: January 2020

The following are selected recently published books that may be relevant for chemical process industries (CPI) professionals Dispelling Chemical Engineering Myths, 3rd ed. (electronic book edition). By Trevor Kletz, CRC Press, 2019, $57.95, e-book. Guide for Making Acute Risk Decisions.…

Customizable, automatic ingredient-batching systems

This company’s Micro and Tote Batching Systems (photo) are customized, automatic ingredient-batching systems for both liquid and dry materials. These systems typically include supply bins, feeders, work platforms, automatic or manual bin refilling, liquid tank/pump skid equipment and the dry-…

Feeding the USB port out of the control cabinet

With the new CU8210-M001 cabinet dome (photo), the USB port of an Industrial PC can be fed out of the control cabinet and still be well protected, establishing reliable and powerful wireless connections to the control computer without having to…

Built-in load monitor ensures correct loading to joints

Maxbolt load-indicating fasteners (photo) can reduce downtime, premature wear and catastrophic joint failures by continuously measuring and displaying the amount of tension in a bolt or stud. Each fastener has an accurate and durable load-monitoring device built in that indicates…

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Technology Profile: Production of ammonium nitrate

This column is based on “Ammonium Nitrate Porous Prills Production Process – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec Solutions. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/ammonium-nitrate-production-cost. Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) is one of the most commercially important ammonium compounds, both in…

Avoiding SIL Misconceptions

Engineers must refine their foundational understanding of process safety in order to avoid common misconceptions about safety instrumented systems, including safety integrity level (SIL) definitions Learnings from major industrial process accidents occurring over the past half century have driven awareness…