The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) has secured a long-term contract with Ningbo Wanhua Polyurethane, which is one of the fastest growing chemical companies for the production of polyurethanes in China. Linde will supply oxygen and nitrogen to Wanhua’s world-scale…
Kureha Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.kureha.co.jp/en ) says it will invest more than $100 million to build a plant in Belle, W.Va., which will produce and sell the high-performance polymer, polyglycolic acid (PGA). Construction of the production facility, which will be…
BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and OAO Gazprom (Moscow, Russia) today officially launched production operations at the Russian natural gas field Yuzhno Russkoye. This is the first time that a German company has been directly involved in the production of…
Oxea GmbH, (Oberhausen, Germany; www.oxea-chemicals.com) one of the world’s leading manufacturers of oxo products and derivatives, today announced the introduction of improved manufacturing processes resulting in higher product yields. At the same time, the company is increasing its production capacity…
Two European refining majors – Slovnaft in Slovakia and OVM/Petrom in Romania - have signed contracts with Haldor Topsøe (Lyngby, Demnark; www.topsoe.com) for hydrocracking technology. Topsøe has licensed its hydrocracking technology to Slovnaft for revamp of the full conversion 20,000…
The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S; Erlangen, Germany; www.siemens.com/cement) has received an order from Orascom Construction Industries (OCI; Cairo, Egypt), to engineer and supply all the electrical equipment for the new cement works of the Al Safwa Cement…
In Malaysia, the raw material for biodiesel production has been palm oil. However, making biodiesel can conflict with the oil’s use as food, and growing palm oil (even for food) has caused the destruction of tropical forests in Borneo, Sumatra…
Last month at a gala dinner at New York’s Rainbow Room, Chemical Engineering (CE) had the pleasure of honoring this year’s finalists and the winner of the 2007 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award, a biennial prize that the magazine has…
Megtec Systems (Glen Waverly, Victoria, Australia; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-542) has announced the first power plant fueled by methane emissions from coal-mine ventilation air. Traditionally, CH4 released during coal excavation requires dilution in ventilation air because it is explosive at concentrations between 5…
Plant Watch Clean gasoline technologies planned for SPRC in Thailand November 14, 2007 — The Star Petroleum Corp. (SPRC) has selected Axens’ technologies for its clean gasoline project in Rayong, Thailand. SPRC will install a 22,640-bbd/d grassroots unit that will…