Total Energy Ventures, the venture capital arm of Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com), is investing in Aquion Energy (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.aquionenergy.com), a start-up specialized in energy storage technology. Aquion Energy develops and manufactures energy storage systems, especially for renewable energies…
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) has signed a longterm contract to provide hydrogen to Repsol, one of the world’s largest producers of petrochemicals. The new steam methane reformer (SMR) will be constructed at Repsol’s La Pampilla petroleum refinery, in the…
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS; Yokohama Japan; www.mpshq.com), received an order from Hidroelectrica del Cantabrico, S.A., the Spanish power producer of EDP (Energia de Portugal) group, for two sets of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) type DeNOx systems for installation at…
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) for the debottlenecking and expansion of its Petrokemya Butadiene Extraction Plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Arabian Petrochemical Co. (Petrokemya), a…
KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has signed an agreement with Chiyoda Corp. (Yokohama, Japan; www.chiyoda-corp.com/en), a leading engineering and construction firm in Japan, to license its CT-Acetica technology. Chiyoda developed the CT-Acetica process, a methanol-carbonylation process that uses methanol and carbon…
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) says it will further expand liquid and gaseous nitrogen supply and storage at the company’s Kirtland, New Mexico, industrial gases facilities over the next two years. The expansion will more than triple its current capacity…
Vertellus (Indianapolis, Ind.; www.vertellus.com), a leading producer of pyridine and pyridine derivative chemicals, today announced that it has purchased Pentagon Chemicals (Holdings) UK Ltd., a leading manufacturer of fine and specialty chemicals used in the life sciences industry. The acquisition…
An increasingly tight labor market for engineers in the chemical process industries (CPI) is pushing salaries for engineers higher, while a strengthening wave of retirements is driving efforts in several communities to address the gaps in experience and education. Data…
PLANT WATCH Kemira inaugurates its largest water-treatment chemicals plant October 9, 2014 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki; www.kemira.com) has inaugurated its biggest manufacturing plant for water-treatment chemicals. Located in Dormagen, Germany, the facility will produce 14 different specifications of acidic and alkaline…
Corbion Purac (Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.corbion.com) will accelerate its thrust into the biotechnology arena, making the next step in the bioplastics value chain by becoming a PLA producer. With entry into PLA, Corbion Purac intends to bring new biodegradable solutions…