Shell Chemical LP (Houston, Tex.; www.shell.us) today announced the start of production of the fourth alpha-olefins (AO) unit at its Geismar, La. chemical manufacturing site. The 425,000-ton/yr capacity expansion brings total AO production at Geismar to more than 1.3 million…
The following is a list of recently published books of relevance for chemical process industries (CPI) professionals Picturing Science and Engineering: A guide to making scientific photographs for presentations, journal submissions and covers. By Felice C. Frankel, MIT Press,…
Plant Watch Neste moves forward with expansion of renewable products in Singapore December 12, 2018 — Neste Corp. (Espoo, Finland; www.neste.com) plans to add production capacity for renewable products at its existing facilities in Singapore. The approximately €1.4-billion investment will…
A methodology and examples for estimating equipment costs are presented Engineers have the responsibility to create projects having attractive returns on investment and to create economically sound designs — designs that produce high-quality, competitively priced products. This requires the technical…
As chemical engineers, many of us work on developing new processes or improving current ones, often with goals of better efficiency, new or improved products and more sustainability. Taking concepts and laboratory work to a commercial scale requires significant effort,…
The preliminary value for the October 2018 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) fell slightly compared to the previous month’s value. The decrease reversed an upward trend that had been ongoing throughout 2018. The Equipment, Buildings and Engineering…
Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com), a world leader in specialty chemicals, and Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com), a global advanced materials and specialty additives company, are proud to announce an exclusive cooperation agreement for the distribution of Eastman’s Tamisolve…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) today released its 2018 Year-End Situation and Outlook. Highlights of the Outlook include the following: Against the backdrop of “decoupling” global growth, ending a rare period of synchronized expansion around the world,…
Plant Watch Synthomer opens expanded nitrile latex production facility in Malaysia November 13, 2018 — Synthomer (London, U.K.; www.synthomer.com) opened its expanded nitrile latex production facility in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. This $63.5-million project added 90,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr)…
Amid a tight labor market, CPI workers at all levels are in high demand as the range of jobs requiring chemical engineering expertise becomes increasingly diverse Many current indicators suggest that it is a great time to be working in…