Quantum clusters serve as ultra-sensitive detectors
Detection of extremely small quantities of dangerous or hazardous substances is important in many areas,…
Commentary
April Letters
Respiratory Protection* ... OSHA requires employers to institute engineering and work practice controls as the…
Bringing mobility to the plant
In his keynote presentation at this year’s ARC Forum (February 11–14, Orlando, Fla.; www.arcweb.com), Andy…
We need NASA
Richard Belzer, of the television program Law and Order, authored a book entitled “UFOs, JFK…
In The News
Chementator
A method to produce an iron-titanium alloy for H2-storage
A new and inexpensive way to produce TiFe — an alloy with potential as a…
A new way to desalt water without using RO or distillation
Capacitive desalination, in which salt ions are electrically removed from saltwater, has been researched for…
MOFs that reversibly capture CO2
An Australian team has developed a structure made of a metal organic framework (MOF) that…
April Chementator Briefs
Biosteel The worlds first artificial-silk fiber that is entirely made of recombinant spider-silk proteins…
Production facility for stabilized sodium slated for startup
A new plant for manufacturing sodium silicide (Na4Si4;diagram), a non-flammable, air-stable powder that reacts with…
Simplified CO2-to-methanol process uses copper-oxide nanowires
A process developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington (www.uta.edu) uses copper-based…
First application of sulfuric acid heap leach to vanadium
Following a positive feasibility study, American Vanadium Corp. (Vancouver, B.C.; www.americanvanadium.com) will construct the world’s…
New GC based on resonating nanosensor
A newly launched gas chromatography (GC) device from Analytical Pixels Technology (APIX; Grenoble, France; www.apixtechnology.com),…
A hybrid acid catalyst makes levulinate from cellulose
Ken-ichi Tominaga and colleagues at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST;…
Business News
World's first commercial LignoBoost plant successfully starts up at Domtar, N.C.
Domtar (Montreal, Québec, Canada; www.domtar.com) has successfully started up a commercial-scale LignoBoost lignin separation plant…
Commercial debut of the AlkyClean solid-acid alkylation process
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cbi.com) has been awarded a contract by Shandong Wonfull Petrochemical Group…
Illa International and Neste Jacobs to co-operate in the phenol-process business
Illa International LLC (ILLA; Long Grove, Ill.; www.illallc.com) and Neste Jacobs Oy (Porvoo, Finland; www.nestejacobs.com)…
Stamicarbon to revamp NFC urea plant in Iraq
Stamicarbon B.V. (Stittard, the Netherlands; www.stamicarbon.com), the Licensing and IP Center of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A.…
Sulzer awarded contract for biopolymer production Plant in Asia
Sulzer Ltd. (Winterthur, Switzerland; www.sulzer.com) has been awarded a contract for the delivery of a production…
Outotec to deliver concentrator technology to Mexico
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has signed a contract with various Industrias Peñoles' mines ("Grupo…
BASF and Petronas Chemicals Group to build an integrated aroma-ingredients complex in Malaysia
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; www.petronaschemicals.com)…
MAN supplies compressor technology for a major CTL project in China
MAN Diesel & Turbo SE (Augsburg, Germany; www.man.eu) has been awarded the contract for a…
Rennovia launches HMD as next product, enabling 100% bio-based nylon-6,6
Rennovia, Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.rennovia.com), announced at the PCI 6th American Nylon Symposium that…
UOP fractionation technology selected for C2/C3 extraction from NGLs
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, announced today that it was selected…
Energy Department announces new innovative projects to develop advanced drop-in biofuels
As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, the Energy Department (DOE; Washington, D.C.;…
Praxair to supply NWR gasification project in Canada
Praxair Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has entered into a…
Air Liquide to develop new combustion technology for 2nd generation biofuels
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) has signed a partnership agreement with the CEA (Commission for…
Praxair and Valero successfully implement patented CONOx technology
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) and Valero have successfully implemented Praxair’s new CONOx emissions-control technology…
Air Products signs MOU with Gazprom for Russian helium project
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)…
UOP wins fourth license for MTO technology in China
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, announced today that China’s Jiangsu Sailboat…
Praxair starts up first ASU in Bahrain
Praxair Bahrain, the Middle East-based subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has announced the…
Parsons awarded SAWS brackish-water desalination program
Parsons (Pasadena, Calif.; www.parsons.com) and a joint-venture (JV) partner, has been selected by the San…
KBR to provide integrated technology, EPC services for grassroots ammonia plant
KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by Incitec Pivot Ltd.’s U.S. business, Dyno…
Lanxess starts leather-chemicals plant in China
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has started up — on schedule — a leather-chemicals plant…
Solvay plans to build large-scale alkoxylation facility in Singapore
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay) says that it will build a large-scale alkoxylation facility in…
Jacobs receives contract from BASF for Antwerp site
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) has received a frame agreement from BASF Antwerp…
Black & Veatch launches new Prico E-Pack natural-gas liquefaction plant
Black & Veatch (Houston; www.bv.com) announced today the availability of its standardized liquefied natural gas…
Air Products’ LNG technology selected for Petronas in Malaysia
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has received an LNG heat exchanger order from Petronas…
Technip awarded contract for a sulfur-recovery-unit modification in Bahrain
Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) was awarded by the Bahrain Petroleum Company B.S.C. – BAPCO, a…
Nevada deploys first U.S. commercial, grid-connected enhanced geothermal system
As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, the Energy Department (Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov)…
KeyGene and Kultevat to develop commercial rubber production from Russian dandelion
The biotech companies Kultevat (Carlsbad, Calif.; www.kultevat.com) and KeyGene (Wageningen, the Netherlands; www.keygene.com) have entered…
Solvay plans to build a specialty surfactant plant in Germany
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Bedlgium; www.solvay.com) announces today that it will build a specialty surfactant plant…
Veolia Environnement and Total inaugurate Osilub recycling plant in Normandy
Veolia Environnement (www.veolia.com) and Total (both Paris, France; www.total.com) today inaugurated the Osilub plant at…
Outotec to deliver technology for an iron-ore pelletizing plant in China
Outotec Oy (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Baotou Steel International Economic & Trading Co.…
Technical & Practical
Safety-Instrumented Systems: Focus on Measurement Diagnostics
This article provides guidance to the designer and operator of a safety-instrumented system (SIS), with…
The Direct Integration Method: A Best Practice for Relief Valve Sizing
What if someone were to tell you that there is one method available for sizing…
Sodium Hypochlorite Chemical Production
Sodium hypochlorite (NaClO) is the active constituent in chlorine bleach, a strong oxidizer and bleaching…
Filtration and Separation In Sulfur Recovery
Sulfur is a major contaminant in the oil and gas industry that exists in various…
Boosting Energy Efficiency in Chemical Manufacturing: A Look at Cogeneration
Many chemical manufacturing processes require large amounts of energy, and chemical companies are faced with…
Combined Heat and Power for the CPI: Modern Concepts
The continuing development of natural gas extraction from shale deposits, known simply as shale gas,…
Facts at Your Fingertips
Gas Hazard Definitions and Data
The detection of gases in plant environments has a critical and wide-ranging role in the…