NORTH AMERICA DuPont Danisco and University of Tennessee partner to build cellulosic ethanol facility DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE) and the University of Tennessee (UT) Research Foundation, through its Genera Energy LLC, announced a partnership to construct an innovative pilot-scale biorefinery and state-of-the-art research and development... Focus On: Gas Detection Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information A Low Parts Count Makes this CO 2 Monitor Economical Boasting an in-house design and accurate CO 2 detection between 0 – 10,000 ppm, the... Newsfront: Chemistry for Construction Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information At 2,064 ft as of this past April, the unfinished Burj Dubai skyscraper in the United Arab Emirates is the tallest man-made structure on earth... June: New Products (North America) Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information Device Modulates Capacity in R-410A Refrigerant AC Systems The APR-410 Control (photo) provides full-capacity modulation for direct-expansion... Focus on: Seals & Gaskets Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information In Poorly Lubricated Conditions, Try this Diamond Seal... Over 50% of pump lifecycle costs result from energy and maintenance; and applying the... More Stories » SOUTH AMERICA BASF to build plant for sodium methylate in Brazil BASF S.E. (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is planning to construct a production plant for sodium methylate in Guaratinguet‡, Brazil, its largest site in South America. The plant, which will have a capacity of 60,000 m.t./yr, will be the first... Rhodia starts producing eco-friendly solvent in Brazil Rhodia (Paris, France; www.rhodia.com) has launched production of Rhodiasolv IRIS, an innovative solvent with excellent eco-friendly properties, at a new unit located on the Group’s Santo Andre site in Brazil. Rhodiasolv IRIS, designed for... Shell Global Solutions licenses technology to SARC Shell Global Solutions International B.V. (The Hague, Netherlands; www.shell.com/home/content/globalsolutions-en) and South Atlantic Refinery Company S.A. (SARC) recently signed an agreement to license technology for SARC’s new greenfield refinery... Lanxess acquires majority share in Petroflex Specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has successfully completed the acquisition of an approximate 70 % holding in Petroflex S.A., Latin America’s biggest rubber producer. Lanxess is paying some 200-million euros... Newsfront: Braving the Building Boom Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information Despite challenges created by a building frenzy in the Middle East and Asia, E&C firms continue to deliver new chemical facilities around the... More Stories » WESTERN EUROPE Ineos completes acquisition of Seal Sands site from BASF Following clearance from the European Commission on August 1, 2008, Ineos Nitriles has successfully completed its agreement to purchase the Seal Sands site on Teesside... Lanxess will move headquarters from Leverkusen to Cologne Specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG plans to move its headquarters from Leverkusen to Cologne (both Germany). Relocation is to be completed by 2011. Lanxess will now begin discussions with the city of Cologne to identify possible sites. “Lanxess is... Bulgarian refinery to upgrade with Axens’ technology Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD, a subsidiary of the Russian oil major Lukoil (Moscow; www.lukoil.com), has selected Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) to design and license technologies to convert Urals blend vacuum residue and gasoil (VGO) at... Larox to supply filters to Chempolis demo plant Larox Corp. (Lappeenranta, Finland; www.larox.com) will deliver two gas-tight Pannevis vacuum belt filters to Chempolis Biorefining Park, CBP, 3rd generation biorefining research and demonstration plant... Alstom to build a 1,280 MW CC power plant in Holland Alstom (Paris, France; www.power.alstom.com) signed with Dutch utility Essent a series of contracts worth up to 1-billion euro for the repowering of Claus B and the construction of Claus C, resulting in a 1,280 MW GT26-based combined-cycle (CC) power plant... More Stories » EASTERN EUROPE Lurgi signs contract for melamine plant in Russia Lurgi GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany; www.lurgi.com), and EuroChem (Moscow), have signed two contracts with a total value of 92.7 million euros for the design and supply of a melamine plant. The melamine unit, which will be the first of its kind in Russia, has a... CAC wins order for Russian membrane electrolyzer Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH (CAC; Germany; www.cac-chem.de) has been awarded a new contract for the planning and construction of a membrane electrolysis plant by the Russian large-scale enterprise “Soda-Chlorat Ltd.”, Berezniki/Perm region. This... BASF Coatings starts paints production in Russia BASF Coatings (Münster, Germany; www.basf-coatings.com) has started up its new production site for paints in Russia. The new facility at Pavlovski Posad, 60 km east of Moscow, has a production capacity of 6,000 m.t./yr of paints (basecoats and... Technip awarded contract for H2 plant in Romania Technip (Paris, Framce; www.technip.com) has been awarded by Rominserv and Rompetrol Rafinare (both members of The Rompetrol Group), a lumpsum contract, worth approximately 40 million euros, for a hydrogen plant to be constructed at the Petromidia Refinery in... Linde to supply technical gases to ArcelorMittal
The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) has signed a long-term supply contract for industrial gases with the world’s largest steel producer ArcelorMittal. The agreement involves the construction of a new air separation unit (ASU) at... More Stories » MIDDLE EAST Saudi Aramco and Total select Axens Technologies Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France www.axens.net) has been awarded a design package for the new, 400,000 bbl/d, world class, full-conversion refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The refining and petrochemical complex is scheduled to start-up in 2012. Among the units... Saudi Aramco/Total confirm Jubail Refinery Project The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; www.saudiaramco.com) and Total (Paris, France; www.total.com) have both confirmed their decision to invest in a 400,000 bbl/d world-class, full-conversion refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia... JGC wins major EPC contract for refinery in Kuwait JGC Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) and its partner GS Engineering & Construction (GS), Korea, announced today that they received Award Notification by Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) to provide engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and... Axens wins Qatar refinery contracts Qatar Petroleum (www.QP.com) has awarded Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) basic engineering design contracts for the new 250,000 bbl/d Al Shaheen petroleum refinery to be built in the Messaieed Industial City in Qatar. Axens will supply the... Beckhoff opens branch office in Turkey The opening of a subsidiary in Istanbul last month signifies a continuation of Beckhoff Automation's (Verl, Germany; www.beckhoff.com) export offensive. After several years of successful presence in the Turkish market through a distributor, Beckhoff intends... More Stories » AFRICA Topsoe technology for large ammonia plant in Algeria A contract for the supply of Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com) process technology and catalysts for two ammonia plants has been signed with the Algeria Oman Fertilizer Co. (El Djazairia El Omania Lil Asmida SPA) — a joint... Foster Wheeler studies CTL feasibility for Sasol Foster Wheeler Ltd. (Hamilton, Bermuda; www.fwc.com) announced that its South African subsidiary Foster Wheeler South Africa (Pty) Limited, part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, has been selected by Sasol Technology (Pty) Ltd to perform a... Invensys signs Egyptian JV Invensys Process Systems (London; www.invensys.com) have joined ENPPI and GASCO in a joint venture (JV) to create Invensys Process System Egypt the first, “Industrial Automation Engineering Center of Excellence” in the... Africa’s largest desalination plant inaugurated A persistent shortage of potable water in the City of Algiers, Algeria was eased today as the $250-million Hamma Seawater Desalination Plant (SWDP) was officially opened by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Jeff Garwood president and CEO, GE Water... UOP processes licensed to Eurochem for new Nigerian plant According to statements made earlier today by Honeywell Company UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), Viva Methanol Ltd., a Nigerian subsidiary of Eurochem Corp. Pte. Ltd. (Singapore; www.eurochem-corp.com), has selected the UOP/Hydro MTO and Total... More Stories » SOUTHEAST ASIA Chementator: Nanomaterial filters and recycles water
A new nanomaterial which doubles as a filter and a reactor capable of destroying unwanted substances, has been developed by a team from Nanyang Technological University (NTU; Singapore; edlinks.che.com/7371-544), and the Singapore Public Utilities Board. The... Thailand LDPE plant to be controlled by InFusion Invensys Process Systems (www.ips.invensys.com) has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by Simon Carves Ltd. to provide an InFusion Enterprise Control System through an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for PTT Polyethylene Co... Chementator: Sonocracking
SulphCo, Inc. (Houston, Tex.; edlinks.che.com/7370-580) has signed an agreement with Pt. Isis Megah (Isis; an Indonesian oil-and-gas services company), which grants Isis an... Mustang to provide design for new chemical complex in Singapore Mustang Engineering (Mustang), a subsidiary of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC , has been authorized by ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (ExxonMobil) to proceed with the detailed engineering design and site construction management for... UOP to establish new center in Malaysia UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, announced today that it will establish a natural gas processing design center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to better support the Southeast Asia market. "Establishing this design and operations... More Stories » NORTH ASIA S-Oil selects ParamaX technologies S-Oil Corp. (Seoul, Korea; www.s-oil.com/eng) has selected Axens’ (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) ParamaX Technology Suite for the No.2 Aromatics complex at the Onsan refinery in South Korea. The new 1,180,000-m.t./yr plant will add capacities... Chementator: This Catalyst Helps Visible Light Split Water into H2 and O2
Normally, only the ultraviolet (higher energy) component of the solar spectrum is usable for the photo-catalytic electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen, which takes place in photochemical cells with an anode made of single-crystalline, rutile-type... Chementator: A Cellulosic-Ethanol Demonstration Plant Enters Startup Phase
Verenium Corp. (formerly Celunol; Cambridge, Mass.; edlinks.che.com/7372-537) is starting up a 1.4-million gal/yr demonstration-scale facility at Jennings, La., which will produce ethanol from regional feedstocks (including sugarcane bagasse and specially... Chementator: Printing Solar Cells
Photovoltaics manufacturer Konarka Technologies, Inc. (Lowell, Mass; edlinks.che.com/7372-546) has successfully performed the first use of drop-on-demand inkjet printheads for the fabrication of organic solar cells. Using a Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP)... A new methanol cracker for Taiwan As part of a new industrial complex producing Polysilicon, Caloric Anlagenbau GmbH (Gräfelfing , Germany; www.caloric.com) has been awarded a contract for a hydrogen-generation plant that uses methanol as... More Stories » CHINA IChemE expands presence in China
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (London; IChemE) has announced plans to establish a greater presence in China, following the appointment of Dr. Yan Tsaur as the country’s first IChemE Operations Director. Professor Richard Darton, IChemE... Alfa Laval wins large order in China Alfa Laval (Lund, Sweden; www.alfalaval.com) has received an order for the Packinox plate heat exchanger from a petrochemical company in China. The order value is about SEK 60 million, and delivery... Lurgi Zimmer wins PA6 contract in China Lurgi Zimmer GmbH, a company of Lurgi GmbH (Frankfurt, Germany; www.lurgi.de), has been awarded a contract to supply its state-of-the-art polyamide 6 (PA6) technology for Tianjin Haijing Polymerization Co., Ltd., P.R... Siemens to supply first 500-MW coal gasifiers to China After a production period of only 18 months, Siemens Energy (Erlangen, Germany; www.powergeneration.siemens.com) is to deliver the first two of five coal gasifiers to Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group Co. Ltd. (SNCG) in China. The coal gasifiers, each... Akzo Nobel relocating its chelates HQ to China AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals (Amersfoort, Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is relocating the headquarters of its chelates business from the Netherlands to China. The move has been prompted by the growing importance of the Asian market. “It is extremely... More Stories » INDIA/PAKISTAN BASF sells its Shreveport site BASF Corp. (Florham Park, N.J.; www.basf.com) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its manufacturing facility in Shreveport, Louisiana and the related contract manufacturing business for finished pharmaceuticals to Dr... Newsfront: Fuel Cells Move into the CPI Plant Click here for full pdf version of this article - includes all graphs, charts, tables, and author information Fuel cells and hydrogen economy are inevitably used in the same breath when talking about clean power and ways to wean us from our addiction to... Chementator: Commercial production and debut of a new solid-acid catalyst for making biodiesel
Last month, Benefuel, Inc. (Mt. Prospect, Ill.; edlinks.che.com/7369-533) established an exclusive global agreement with Süd-Chemie India Pvt. Ltd. (SCIL; New Delhi) whereby SCIL will manufacture proprietary solid-acid catalysts for Benefuel’s... ABB plans major expansion in India ABB (www.abb.com) plans to rapidly develop its Indian operations by investing $100 million over three years to expand business, engineering and R&D capacities, build new... India Expands Clean-fuels Programs Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net) has recently been awarded several major basic engineering design packages and technology licenses for new, clean-fuels programs with Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. (IndianOil; www.iocl.com). The contracts are for the... More Stories » AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND Chementator: A Less Expensive Way to Make Boron Carbide Components
Because parts made from boron carbide have a higher rigidity and lower weight compared with those made from silicon carbide and alumina, boron carbide parts are important components for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and other components requiring... Chementator: CO2-capture pilot test
CSIRO (Melbourne, Australia; edlinks.che.com/7371-547) and China’s Thermal Power... Chementator: Stronger die cast parts High-pressure die-cast (HPDC) aluminum alloys cannot normally be heated to high temperatures due to the presence of pores containing entrapped gases, which lead to the formation of surface blisters. CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering (Melbourne... Chementator: One less step to make activated carbon with dispersed metal nanoparticles
Nanostructured microporous carbons containing well-dispersed metal nanoparticles have the potential to improve the performance of fuel cells or catalysis. However, traditional techniques for embedding metal particles in porous carbons (post-synthesis... Chementator: Desalination barges based on reverse osmosis
Transfield Services Ltd. (edlinks.che.com/7369-549) and WorleyParsons Ltd. (both North Sydney, Australia; edlinks.che.com/7369-550) have been selected to construct two mobile-desalination units (MDU) for contingency use in the Brisbane River. The project is... More Stories » OTHER Wacker Schott Solar to expand in Jena After commissioning a new wafer production facility at the so-called “Jena Site 2” in mid-April, Wacker Schott Solar GmbH (Jena, Germany; www.wackerschott.de) is continuing its production-site expansion. The company announced this today... Veolia wins Sines Plant environmental project La Seda de Barcelona (LSB; Spain; www.laseda.es) has awarded the project of environmental services for the industrial plant Artenius Sines, a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational located in Portuguese city of Sines, to the French company Veolia... CAC builds underground storage facility for natural gas Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH (CAC; Germany; www.cac-chem.de) draws on its longstanding collaboration with Rohöl-Aufsuchungs AG (RAG; Vienna, Austria) and lands two new contracts for erecting underground storage facilities for natural gas. The one... Utz Tillmann becomes director general of VCI Dr. Utz Tillmann is now director general of the German Chemical Industry Assn. (VCI; Frankfurt, Germany; www.vci.de). He is starting in his new role on June 1. Tillmann has an industry background, combined with wide experience in association work in Brussels... Ekato Fluid receives its largest order Ekato Fluid Misch- ind Dispergiertechnik GmbH (Lörrach, Germany; www.fluidmix.de), a company of the Ekato Group (Schopfheim... More Stories »
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