BP plc (London; www.bp.com) and China’s Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (ZPCC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the creation of a new equally-owned joint venture to build and operate a acetic acid plant in eastern China.…
Lanxess AG (Cologne, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is broadening its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in product development. The specialty chemicals company has launched a project aimed at expanding its range of prepolymers. The goal is to offer customers tailor-made polyurethane systems…
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) has decided to double the production capacity of its affiliate Synova to meet growing market demand for high-performance recycled materials. By early 2021, Normandy-based Synova, a French leader in its sector, will produce 40,000 ton/yr…
Industrial Ethernet protocols are the leading method for gathering smart instrument data and pending developments will allow improved implementation of this technique with two-wire instruments The industrial internet of things (IIoT) uses smart instruments to enhance industrial processes through realtime…
Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has successfully brought on stream, and on schedule, a new 90,000-ton/yr acrylic acid reactor at its Clear Lake, Texas site. Equipped with the latest production technologies, this new reactor replaces two decommissioned reactors, which each had…
The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; the most recent available) for August 2019 decreased from the previous month’s value. The decline is the sixth within the last seven months. While the Construction Labor subindex rose in…
S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. (Houston; www.sbec.com) announced it has been awarded a lump sum engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by an affiliate of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (Enterprise) for Enterprise’s second propane dehydrogenation plant (PDH 2)…
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) will open a Digital Factory in Paris in early 2020 that will bring together up to 300 developers, data scientists and other experts to accelerate the Group’s digital transformation. Total’s goal is to leverage the…
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) is partnering with ArcelorMittal in the first industrial scale demonstration plant to capture carbon gas from the steelmaking process and recycle it into chemicals, specifically advanced bioethanol. In this project, Air Liquide Engineering & Construction…
Brussels S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) will lift production capacity of its Tecnoflon FKM peroxide curable fluoroelastomer by nearly a third at its plant in Spinetta Marengo, Italy, to serve ongoing strong demand growth for high performance sealing applications in the…