The following information describes recently published books relevant to the chemical process industries (CPI): Engineering Energy Storage, By Odne Stokke Burheim, 2017, Academic Press, 252 pages, $125.00. Energetic Materials: Advanced Processing Technologies for Next-Generation Materials. Edited by Mark Mezger, Kay…
I recently saw a television commercial that caught my attention and provided “food for thought.” The ad begins with a young girl opening a birthday gift, and is delighted when she sees that it is a Millie Dresselhaus doll. A…
Plant Watch $8-billion phosphate megaproject starts up in Saudi Arabia August 11, 2017 — Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced that the Ma’aden Wa’ad Al-Shamal Phosphate Co.’s Umm Wu’al Phosphate Project in Saudi Arabia has started production. Fluor is providing…
IHS Markit (Houston; www.ihs.com), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, is releasing periodic updates on the impact of Tropical Storm Harvey on the crude oil, refining and chemical sectors. A summary of the latest update (as of…
The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that the third quarter started on a good note, with growth in U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes expanding 0.4 percent in July, following an upwardly revised 0.6 percent gain in June.…
Ingevity Corp. (North Charleston, S.C.; www.ingevity.com) today announced it has reached an agreement with Georgia-Pacific to acquire Georgia-Pacific’s pine chemicals business for a cash purchase price of $315 million. The acquisition is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary…
The preliminary value for the June CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI; most recent available) dipped slightly compared to the previous month’s value, and although the decrease was small, it ends a string of eight straight months of increasing values. All…
Plant Watch Arkema invests in capacity expansion for biosourced polyamide 11 July 12, 2017 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) plans to invest around €300 million over five years in the biosourced polyamide 11 chain, building a new production plant in…
Follow these tips to get the most out of these high-risk, high-reward, third-party arrangements Outsourcing is the subcontracting of a business function to an outside entity. The concept of outsourcing was first articulated by David Ricardo, an English economist in…
The American Chemistry Council’s (Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that global chemicals production rose 0.4 percent in June. This matches the pace in May, as measured on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. During…