Chemical Engineering
Tata Projects wins EPC contract for GSFC phosphoric acid–sulfuric acid complex in Gujarat
Tata Projects Ltd. (Mumbai, India) an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company and a key member of the Tata Group (Mumbai, India), has secured a significant EPC contract from Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. (GSFC; Vadodara, India) for the…
Cambrex breaks ground on $120 million expansion at Iowa API site
Cambrex Corp. (East Rutherford, N.J.), a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has marked the groundbreaking of its $120 million expansion at its Charles City, Iowa, facility. The expansion will add 160,000 liters of manufacturing capacity, increasing the site's…
LyondellBasell to sell former Houston refinery site to Valero for $320.5 million
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its former Houston Refinery site and related assets to Valero Refining-Texas, L.P. , a wholly owned subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp. (San Antonio, Tex,;). The…
AdvanSix selected for USDA grant to expand ammonia capacity in Virginia
AdvanSix Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.) announced it has been selected to receive $47.4 million in proposed funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through its Fertilizer Investment & Expansion for Long-Term Domestic Supply (FIELDS) program. This funding will support Project…
A sulfur-based substitute for bitumen as a binder in road asphalt
Demand for bitumen as a binding agent for road asphalt is growing, but supplies are not expected to keep pace. Startup company Uberbinder (Seattle, Wash.; www.uberbinder.com) has developed a manufacturing platform for making an alternative: a sustainable, high-performance, sulfur-based binder…
Epoxy-based composite demonstrated as a fixative for radioactively contaminated surfaces
Decommissioning nuclear sites is a complex technical and environmental challenge. A recent project undertaken by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www.pnnl.gov) has demonstrated a method for immobilizing radioactive contaminants on surfaces. The approach would reduce the spread of…
New technique for recycling composite materials breaks down thermoset to recover fibers
Poly(dicyclopentadiene), or pDCPD, is a thermoset plastic often used with fiberglass or carbon fibers to make high-strength, lightweight composite materials. Such composites are difficult to recycle practically, leaving environmentally harmful incineration as the most common end-of-life scenario. Now, a team…
Fully autonomous modules produce carbon-neutral synthetic natural gas
Rivan Industries (London, U.K.; www.rivan.com) has deployed its first full-scale modular synthetic natural gas (SNG) system, marking a milestone in autonomous fuels production at scale. Powered by a 1-MW solar array, the SNG system’s only inputs are rainwater and CO2,…
Upcycled steel byproduct sequesters phosphorus and sulfur in wastewater digesters
To inhibit fouling and H2S formation, chemicals like ferric chloride, ferric sulfate and aluminum sulfate are often used to reduce the concentration of phosphorus and sulfur in digesters at wastewater treatment facilities. While effective at isolating sulfides and phosphates, these…
Microbial technology is turning end-of-life oilfields into hydrogen-producing bioreactors
Subsurface sources are an area of emerging interest for producing low-carbon hydrogen. A microbiology-forward approach to subsurface hydrogen production developed by Eclipse Energy (Houston; www.eclipseenergy.co) is designed to recover hydrogen from depleted oil reservoirs. The RenovaStrata TM technology is centered…