Chemical Engineering
A world-first process for recycling aluminum-smelter waste to be piloted in Tasmania
Aluminum smelting operations require molten cryolite, also commonly called bath, to serve as the electrolyte and dissolve alumina. A typical smelter produces excess bath over time, and there are few markets for reuse or recycle of this material, especially as…
Enzyme engineering breaks out of the cell
A new approach to enzyme engineering has overcome many of the operating challenges associated with large-scale bio-based manufacturing processes by designing enzymes that can thrive outside living cells, eliminating complexity and improving reaction yields. eXoZymes’ (Monrovia, Calif.; www.exozymes.com) cell-free enzyme…
Varo Energy to acquire Swedish energy firm Preem
VARO Energy (Zug, Switzerland) has reached agreement to acquire Preem Holding AB and Preem AB (Stockholm, Sweden), Sweden’s largest fuel company, through the purchase of 100% of the share capital of the parent company, Corral Petroleum Holdings AB (CPH), in…
Toyo Engineering awarded contract for anhydrous hydrogen fluoride plant in Korea
Toyo Engineering Korea Ltd., a subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corp. (Tokyo), has been awarded a contract by BGFecospecialty (BGFesp) for the construction of the plant to produce 50,000 tons per year of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF). Toyo-Korea will be responsible…
Shin-Etsu Chemical to invest in production capacities for pharmaceutical cellulose
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. (Tokyo) will make investments at two of its bases, the subsidiary SE Tylose GmbH & Co. KG (Wiesbaden, Germany) and the Naoetsu Plant (in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, Japan) to strengthen its pharmaceutical cellulose business. In Germany, a…
Linde to install thermochemical regenerator technology at O-I glass plant in Holzminden, Germany
O-I Glass, Inc. () and Linde plc announced plans to install Linde’s proprietary OPTIMELT Thermochemical Regenerator (TCR) technology at O-I’s container glass plant in Holzminden, Germany. This collaboration is expected to significantly reduce both fuel consumption and fuel-based Scope 1…
CSB issues final investigation report on 2023 Marathon plant fire
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB; Washington, D.C.; www.csb.gov) recently released its final investigation report into the November 19, 2023, fire at the Marathon Martinez Renewables facility in Martinez, CA. The incident seriously injured one employee, who suffered…
Covestro to establish automated laboratory for coatings and adhesives
Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany) has announced that it will open a specifically developed, automated laboratory for optimizing coating and adhesive formulations to provide even better support to its customers in 2025. "With our automated laboratory, we can work together with…
TotalEnergies launches six new energy-storage projects in Germany
TotalEnergies SE (Paris, France) is announcing investment decisions for six battery storage projects. In total, these projects amount to 221 MW of new storage capacity and an investment outlay of €160 million. These projects were developed by Kyon Energy, a…
Chemical Engineering Conversation: A One-Stop Engineering Shop for Ethanol Expansions
In this interview, experts from the Thermal Kinetics division of RCM Technologies discuss an engineering-first approach that helps address market gaps in the fuel-ethanol industry and unlocks capacity-expansion potential for manufacturers Despite significant projected growth in the ethanol sector through…