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Hoerbiger acquires Tritech Compression

Hoerbiger Holding AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.hoerbiger.com) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% ownership of Tritech Compression, Inc. (Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada). Effective, March 2, 2009, the oil field equipment supply and maintenance service company will operate as business…

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BASF/Dow’s HPPO plant in Antwerp completes startup phase

The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced today that the world’s largest commercial-scale propylene oxide (PO) plant and the first based on the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com)…

New ASTM standard is announced for oscillating piston viscometers

Cambridge Viscosity (www.cambridgeviscosity.com) has announced that the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) has developed a new standard test method - ASTM D 7483-08 - for the Determination of Dynamic and Kinematic Viscosity of Liquids by Oscillating Piston Viscometer. Oscillating…

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Dresser Masoneilan to supply customized valves to Danieli India

 Dresser Masoneilan (Houston, Tex.; www.dresser.com), an international leader in the design, manufacture, and support of process control valves and solutions, was recently chosen by steel plant and equipment supplier Danieli India Ltd to provide control valves for the Vizakhapatnam Steel…

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Cognis sells Botanicals Extracts Business

On February 20, global specialty chemicals supplier Cognis GmbH (Monheim am Rhein, Germany; www.cognis.com) signed an agreement to sell its Botanicals Extracts Business to Burgundy Botanical Extracts Iberia, S.A. (Burgundy; www.burgundy-extracts.com). Today, Cognis and Burgundy announced that the sale of…

Help support ChE education

Bringing recognition to the value of the chemical engineering profession and striving to continually advance it have been goals for this magazine since its founding more than 106 years ago. To help cultivate new talent, CE established the annual Chopey…

Heinz Bloch reviews “Operator’s Guide to Centrifugal Pumps”

Operator’s Guide to Centrifugal Pumps. By Robert X. Perez. Xlibris Corp. 436 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19101. Web: xlibris.com. 2008. 196 pages. $50.99. Reviewed by Heinz P. Bloch, Process Machinery Consulting, West Des Moines, Iowa It is important for reliability…

Using Web 2.0 Tools to Increase Your Productivity

Web 2.0 developments can improve an engineer’s productivity at work, as well as his or her professional development Since it was opened to commercial content in the early 1990s, the internet has become a ubiquitous repository of knowledge. Its open…

People: Who’s Who

Oliver Lawal becomes vice-president at Aquionics (Erlanger, Ky.). Edwards (Crawley, West Sussex, U.K.) names Ron Krisanda operations and technology director. Bentley Systems (Exton, Pa.) appoints Pieter Neethling to the newly created position of solutions executive, mining and metals. Richard Schloesser…

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Economic Indicators: Business News

Plant Watch Dow to close LDPE plant in Freeport, Texas February 12, 2009 — Driven by current economic conditions and overcapacity for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in the North American marketplace, The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.) has announced the shutdown…