AkzoNobel (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) has completed the €4.8-million expansion project at its Surface Chemistry facility in Boxing, China, significantly increasing the company's regional product portfolio and reconfirming its commitment to the Asian market. Being able to supply higher value…
Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) has entered into a definitive agreement with Shandong Ruyi Investment Holding to sell Invista’s Apparel & Advanced Textiles business, one of Invista’s four major business units. Completion of the agreement is subject to customary closing conditions…
The size and size distribution of particles are important determining factors in the design and operation of many process operations involving dry particles and powders. Follow this guidance to understand the impact of these key characteristics Bulk solids are dry…
The following are recently published titles relevant to the chemical process industries (CPI) Sustainable Water Management and Technologies, Vol. 2: Sustainable Water Technologies, By Daniel Chen, Taylor and Francis Group, 2017, 828 pages, $279.95. What Every Engineer Should Know About…
Handheld device speeds maintenance, startup efforts The AMS Trex Device Communicator (photo) uses the company’s Power the Loop technology. By removing the need for an external power supply, the device helps users work more effectivey and perform faster device configuration,…
Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; www.praxair.com) says it has started up three new vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) plants at the Daesan petrochemical complex located on the west coast of the Korean peninsula. Praxair will start up a fourth VPSA plant…
This company now offers a wider range of process air stages by introducing the large blower series known as Alpha Blower (photo). Featuring 104 model variants, this series provides a high degree of flexibility for numerous applications. These positive-displacement blowers…
Trash bags Barrier films used in food packaging are difficult to recycle effectively, because they often contain multiple polymers that are not compatible with one another in the mixing steps required for the recycling process. Now, trash bags made from…
A triple-layer, porous membrane system developed at the Functional Materials Laboratory at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (www.fml.ethz.ch) can be fashioned into evaporative curtains to cool and humidify indoor spaces, potentially decreasing the energy demand for climate-control systems. Juxtaposing opposite forces…
Soil bacteria that oxidize methane (methanotrophs) are important in capturing methane before it enters the atmosphere. Now an international team has isolated and characterized methanotrophic bacteria — obtained from a New Zealand volcanic field — that can grow on CH4…