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Chemical Engineering

January Chementator Briefs

MDI Production Late last year, Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.covestro.com) started up a pilot plant for the production of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) based on the innovative AdiP (adiabatic-isothermal phosgenation) technology at its Brunsbüttel site. The new technology promises to…

Enhancing photocatalytic activity by tuning wall thickness of TiO2 nanotubes

Titanium dioxide is well known as a photocatalyst, and is especially promising for degrading organic-based contaminant molecules in wastewater. Researchers from China and Australia have reported, in a recent issue of the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, that controlling…

Immobilizing enzymes for biosensors

A new technique for making less-expensive, more-efficient biological enzyme hybrids could have widespread applications, including in water recycling, drug manufacturing and molecular biology. The technique, developed by a team from Australia and the U.S., involves using a vortex fluidic device…

Radiative cooling: A coating for windows that also cools

A Korean team has proposed an approach for passive radiative cooling. The team, which includes professors Junsuk Rho and Jin Kon Kim of Pohang Universiy of Science and Technology (Pohang, South Korea; www.postech.ac.kr) and professor Heon Lee of Korea University…

Metso Outotec signs contracts in Russia for zinc, copper projects

Metso Outotec Corp. (Helsinki, Finland) has signed a contract to deliver a complete package of key process equipment for a greenfield zinc plant in Verkhny Ufaley in the Chelyabinsk region in Russia. The contract value of approximately EUR 100 million…

Air Liquide signs major biomethane contract in the U.K.

One of the leading retailers in the U.K., ASDA, has contracted Air Liquide S.A. (Paris, France) to install and operate six biomethane (BioNGV) distribution stations to refuel trucks on its sites. Alongside other investments to increase Air Liquide’s production and…

Mitsubishi Chemical to build pilot facility for carbon-fiber-reinforced thermoplastics

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC; Tokyo) announced plans to establish a new pilot facility for carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP). The facility will be located in Fukui Prefecture and is scheduled to start operation by the end of 2021. MCC has…

Sumitomo Chemical exploring combined propane-methanol production scheme in Singapore

Sumitomo Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan) has begun exploring a possible combination of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) technology that converts propane gas into propylene, with another technology that efficiently synthesizes methanol, using hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2), by-products from PDH. This…

Sibur and Sinopec set up JV at Amur Gas Chemical Complex

Sibur Holding PJSC (Moscow, Russia) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), China’s leading energy and chemical company, have closed the deal to set up a joint venture (JV) at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex after obtaining all the necessary approvals from…

Maire Tecnimont wins EPCC contract from Indian Oil for new acrylic-acid and butyl-acrylate units

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Milan, Italy) announced that its subsidiary Tecnimont SpA, through its Indian entity Tecnimont Private Limited, has been awarded an EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) Lump Sum contract by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), for the implementation…