Effective June 1, the Hoerbiger Group (Zug, Switzerland, www.hoerbiger.com) acquired the compressor business of Gala Precision Technology Private Ltd. (Thane, India), as part of a share deal. Gala Precision Technology Private Ltd., India is a leading manufacturer of valves and…
Aker Solutions ASA (www.akersolutions.com) has received its engineering license from the Chinese government authorities, granting the company’s subsidiary Aker Projects (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., permission to undertake engineering design for China-based projects in the chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. “We…
Royal DSM N.V. (Heerlen, Netherlands; www.dsm.com), has acquired privately held Biopract GmbH (Berlin, Germany). The acquisition will serve as an entry point for DSM into the promising biogas market, which is showing 15–20% growth per year. The acquisition has been…
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) has completed delivery and commissioning of the 1-MW Totana photovoltaic (PV) power plant located in the region of Murcia in Spain. In a year, Totana produces 2.2 GWh of grid-quality electric power and displaces some 1,350…
Plant Watch New Linde plant in Illinois to supply hydrogen for diesel production May 19, 2009 — Linde has executed a new longterm contract with PdV Midwest Refining LLC to supply hydrogen to the company’s Citgo Lemont, Ill., oil refinery.…
The world’s first commercial plant to produce liquid fuels by direct coal liquefaction is now being started up in Majata, Inner Mongolia, by Shenhua Group (Beijing). Designed to produce 25,000 bbl/d of syncrude from 4,300 metric tons per day (m.t./d)…
An innovation that improves the steelmaking efficiency of an electric arc furnace (EAF) by adding calcium carbide to the process has been developed by NuFlux, LLC (Warren, Ohio), a producer of steelmaking fluxes, and Carbide Industries LLC (Louisville, Ky.; www.carbidellc.com),…
Algae offer a ubiquitous, renewable source of oil for fuels and various chemical products ( CE, September 2008, pp. 22–25), but the extraction of oil from the algae cells is an energy-intensive process that involves dewatering and drying the biomass,…
Compressing carbon dioxide captured from power plants to 1,500–2,200 psia for pipeline transmission or underground injection is a challenge that requires eight stages or more, using conventional compressors. A compressor that promises to do the job in two stages, for…
A process that produces hydrogen-enriched natural gas, with carbon black as a byproduct, is being developed by Atlantic Hydrogen Inc. (Fredericton NB, Canada; www.atlantichydrogen.com). The company has piloted the process at a scale of 25 m3/h of natural gas…