Latest News
PacifiCorp names Black & Veatch as EPC contractor for combined solar power with battery energy storage project
Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.; www.bv.vom) has been selected by Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, to engineer and construct a battery energy storage project that will support reliable and sustainable electricity to residents in the Utah town…
Polyscope Polymers completes integration of SMA business
Polyscope Polymers B.V. (Geleen, the Netherlands; www.polyscope.eu) has completed the business integration of the global styrene maleic anhydride (SMA) copolymers business from Cray Valley S.A., Cray Valley HSC Asia Ltd, Cray Valley (Guangzhou) Chemical Co. Ltd. and Total Petrochemicals &…
Total Starts Up its Second Solar Power Plant in Japan
Total S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) has started up commercial operation of a 25-MW (peak) solar power plant in Miyako, in Iwate Prefecture on Japan’s Honshu Island. Completed two years after the beginning of construction, the plant will generate enough clean…
Focus on Gas Detection
Handheld camera detects fugitive vapor leaks The FLIR GF620 (photo) is a high-definition, handheld optical-gas-imaging (OGI) camera that is designed to help oil-and-gas industry professionals detect invisible leaks of hydrocarbons, such as methane and common volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Equipped…
Improving Mathematical Model Development and Implementation
This article provides practical guidance for engineers and highlights the importance of combining mathematical skills, domain expertise and proper communications The role of mathematical models in chemical engineering keeps increasing, to the point that some engineers become specialized “modelers.” To…
2019 Kirkpatrick Award Finalists
Every two years, Chemical Engineering honors an innovative technology that has been commercialized with the Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award. This year, we have six finalists who will have the opportunity to present their technologies at the Chem Show in…
Business News
Plant Watch Perstorp will construct new plant for sodium formate deicer product May 9, 2019 — Perstorp AB (Perstorp, Sweden; www.perstorp.com) plans to construct a new plant in Perstorp, Sweden. The plant will increase capacity for Pergrip Run NF, the…
Electrochemical separation and compression of hydrogen
Hydrogen gas is used widely in industry, including in metal annealing, float-glass production and silicon wafer manufacturing, among others, but greater than 80% of the H2 used for these processes is typically vented or flared as waste. A new electrochemical…
Nitrogen fixation under ambient conditions
The transition-metal-catalyzed reduction of nitrogen is an alternative to the traditional energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process for producing ammonia. In these reaction systems, metallocenes or potassium graphite are typically used as the reducing reagent, and conjugate acids of pyridines or related compounds…
High-strength Al alloy for 3-D printing is moving into commercial production
The first high-strength, wrought-aluminum alloy powder designed for use in additive manufacturing (3-D printing) applications is moving into commercial production. The powder was developed by HRL Laboratories (Malibu, Calif.; www.hrl.com) for use in laser powder-bed fusion 3-D printers. The company…