Ingleside Ethylene, LLC, the 50/50 joint venture between Mexichem S.A.B. de C.V. (Tlalnepantla, Mexico; www.mexichem.com) and Occidental Chemical Corp. (OxyChem) announced that its ethylene cracker at OxyChem’s Ingleside, Texas, complex has begun operations on schedule and on budget. The ethylene…
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) shows that headline global production started the year on a strong note, rising 0.6 percent in January after a similar gain in December, as measured…
In these times of fast-changing automation, more and more companies are talking about “going digital.” Converting to digital data is not new, but thanks to new, enabling technologies, today’s digital culture has evolved into something far beyond what could have…
The NiWest Nickel Laterite Project located at Murrin Murrin in the North Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, has the potential to become a significant long-term, low-cost nickel producer through the development of heap leaching. The project is 100% owned by…
Achieving silicon of acceptable purity for solar-energy applications typically requires several purification steps. Now, a new process has been demonstrated that can produce high-purity Si from low-quality quartz in a single step. The PureVap technology from PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (Montreal,…
Toray Industries, Inc. (www.toray.us) and Mitsui Sugar Co. (both Tokyo, Japan; www.mitsui-sugar.co.jp) have started a six-year project to demonstrate the production of useful materials from bagasse, with support from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Org. (NEDO; Kawasaki City,…
The European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program has awarded a grant to a consortium working to raise yields and lower costs of large-scale industrial enzymes. The grant will fund a three-year project to increase yields of an enzyme…
Porometric mesh is a new weave mesh designed by GKD-USA, Inc. (Cambridge, Md.; www.gkdusa.com) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations (photo), in a study aimed at reducing erosion and abrasion caused by sand in oil-and-gas pipelines. Porometric mesh has a…
An international team of scientists, led by senior researcher Anna Rising and professor Jan Johansson at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Karolinska Institute (both Stockholm, Sweden; www.slu.se and www.ki.se), has developed a process that makes it possible…
A new solution-based method for introducing doping into organic semiconductor films could simplify the manufacture of efficient single-layer photovoltaic cells and move them closer to a commercial reality. Beyond solar cells, the doping technique could be more broadly used in…