When a 300,000-m.t./yr plant starts up in 2010 at Bayer’s integrated site in Shanghai, China, it will be the first world-scale application of a new process for producing toluene diisocyanate (TDI) developed by Bayer MaterialScience AG (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-531).…
An integrated energy scheme that combines the generation of substitute natural gas (SNG) from coal, coproduction of biofuel and electricity and near-zero emissions of carbon dioxide, is being developed by Arizona Public Service (APS, Phoenix; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-532), Arizona’s largest utility, with…
“Green” diesel fuel that can be blended with petroleum-derived diesel fuel has been produced from vegetable oil in a process developed jointly by UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-533) and Eni S.p.A. (Milan, Italy). The fuel is a “premium diesel…
Biodiesel fuel is typically produced by the transesterification of vegetable oil or animal fats in a batch operation that takes about 1-1/2 h. Hydro Dynamics, Inc. (HDI; Rome, Ga.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-534) claims to have cut the residence time to 2–3 s…
Following up on its success with the world’s first commercial plant to use a new oil-recycling process, Puralube GmbH (Elsteraue, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-538) plans to build a second plant near the first one, in Zeitz/Elsteraue. Scheduled for startup at the end…
Dow Epoxy, a business unit of Dow Chemical Co. (Midland Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-541) has selected Shanghai Chemical Industry Park as the site for its 150,000-m.t./yr glycerine-to-epichlorohydrin (GTE) plant and a 100,000-m.t./yr liquid-epoxy-resins plant. Both plants are expected to startup in the…
Last month, Air Liquide S.A. (Paris; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-543) acquired Lurgi AG (Frankfurt, Germany) from the GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6895-544). Although subject to approval by the European and U.S. competition authorities, the acquisition will enable the acceleration of growth in…
A feeder for both batch and continuous operation Available in 7 models with feedrates from 1 to 550 ft3/h, the Better-Weigh Feeders (photo) are designed to provide feeding in either batch or continuous mode, depending upon the arrangement…
Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-531) will begin commercial-scale production of Infuse olefin-block copolymers (OBCs), using its Insite technology, in the third quarter of 2007. The company recently completed a trial manufacturing run of OBCs at the plant, which is…
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. (MES; Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-540), in cooperation with Chugoku Electric Power Co. (Hiroshima, Japan), is building a pilot plant that will produce 5-m.t./d of natural gas hydrate (NGH). The plant, located at Chugoku Electric's Yanai Power…