Plant Watch Air Liquide inaugurates CO2 -recovery plant in Ontario February 12, 2018 — Air Liquide Canada, a subsidiary of the Air Liquide Group (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com), inaugurated a carbon dioxide (CO 2) recovery plant in Johnstown, Ontario. The plant…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported today that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes gained 0.1 percent in January, following a 0.8 percent gain in December. All changes in the data are reported on a three-month moving average…
The preliminary value for the December CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) decreased compared to the previous month’s value for the second consecutive month. Decreases in the Equipment and Buildings subindices for December 2017 offset small increases in…
Global chemical mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2018 is expected to remain strong, as higher valuations continue to be mitigated by improving global economic conditions, continued inexpensive financing, and an appetite amongst industry participants for growth and transformative M&A…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) announced today that The Chemours Co. president and CEO Mark Vergnano became the Council’s newest officer, effective January 1, 2018. As its newest officer, Vergnano will first assume the role of Vice Chairman…
The chemical process industries (CPI) influence much of what affects our daily lives in areas as diverse as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, food products, basic chemicals and more. One field where many engineers are focusing their efforts is energy. Efforts toward widening…
Plant Watch Asahi Kasei to increase global production capacity for LIB separators January 11, 2018 — Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) will increase production capacity for lithium-ion battery (LIB) separators at its plants in North Carolina and Shiga, Japan.…
This column is based on “Cyclohexane from Benzene and Hydrogen – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/cyclohexane-production-cost. Cyclohexane is a relatively stable cycloalkane, present in crude oils in concentrations of 0.1–1.0%. This cycloparaffin…
The preliminary value for the November CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) decreased compared to the previous month’s value, reversing an upward trend over the past four months. In addition, the final value for the October CEPCI was…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes gained 0.9 percent in December, ending the year on a strong note. All changes in the data are reported on a three-month moving average (3MMA)…