ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-546) has agreed to sell its Lummus Global business to Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CB&I; The Woodlands, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-547) for an enterprise value of $950 million on a debt and cash free basis, subject to…
ExxonMobil Chemical (Houston, Tex.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-543) has commercialized a new process for making butyl rubber at its Notre Dame de Gravenchon plant in France. The company declines to give details on the process, but says it is more energy-efficient than the…
Fundamentals of Industrial Catalytic Processes, Second Edition. By C.H. Bartholomew and R.J. Farrauto. John Wiley & Sons, 111 River St., Hoboken, NJ. Web: wiley.com. 2006. 966 pages. $99.95 Reviewed by Richard D. Newman, Ph.D., CRI Catalyst Company, Houston, Tex. This…
In order to confirm the performance of its proprietary, high-severity fluid-catalytic-cracking (HS-FCC) process, Nippon Oil Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-533) plans to build a new confirmation-test plant at its Mizushima, Japan, refinery. The unit will have a treating capacity of 3,000…
BP Alternative Energy (Sunbury, (U.K.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-544) and Powerspan Corp. (Portsmouth, N.H.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6899-545) are collaborating to develop and commercialize Powerspan’s carbon dioxide capture technology, called ECO2. The agreement covers financial and technical support for pilot demonstration and commercial scaleup activities, including…
The relationship between attorney and inventor is very important. A potentially valuable patent is involved, and the value of it is often dependent in large part on how well the inventor and attorney work together. It is very…
Ravi Uppal is promoted to head of global markets for ABB (Zurich, Switzerland). Ashland, Inc. (Dublin, Ohio) names David K. Jones director of bioproducts. Jean Philippe LeCointe becomes technical service manager for European composite transportation business of Ashland Composite Polymers.…
Chemical engineers, whether directly engaged in R&D or not, routinely deal with situations that are new and different, not only to them, but to those in the chemical process industries (CPI) as a whole. Quite often, the way…
Plant Watch Huntsman signs agreement to host new biodiesel plant July 19, 2007 — Huntsman Corp. announced it has reached agreement with RBF Port Neches LLC (“RBF”) to operate a newly constructed biodiesel plant to be located at Huntsman’s…
The traditional way to check microbial growth in a fermentation process is to take a sample of slurry and analyze it in the laboratory, a procedure that is less than ideal because of the time delay in obtaining the information.…