Latest News: Business
LS9 fatty alcohol demonstration facility starts up in Florida
LS9, Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.; www.ls9.com) a technology leader in the development of renewable and sustainable chemicals and fuels, today announced the successful start-up of its Florida operations with an initial production run of fatty alcohols. LS9 completed the…
CFATS administration needs improvement, Congressional testimony argues
The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA; Washington, D.C.; www.socma.com) today testified before Congress that poor implementation of the nation’s chemical security regulations has created burdens on small chemical companies.

 Testifying on behalf of SOCMA before the House…
Microchannel GTL chosen for use in speciality petroleum-products facility
A modular gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant incorporating Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) technology developed by Velocys, Inc. (Plain City, Ohio; www.velocys.com), the U.S.-based subsidiary of the Oxford Catalysts Group (Abingdon, U.K.; www.oxfordcatalysts.com), has been chosen by Calumet Specialty Product Partners, L.P., major U.S.-based producer…
ABB to automate world’s largest iron ore mine investment in Brazil
ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) has won orders totaling $140 million from Vale S.A. (Vale) to supply automation and electrical equipment for the world’s largest iron ore project investment, which comprises in the development of a mine and a processing plant…
Jacobs wins contract from Lotte Chemical
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) was awarded a contract by Lotte Chemical UK Ltd. to provide construction management services for a new polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant to be built at the Wilton International Site in Redcar, Cleveland, U.K.…
Athabasca Oil selects GE’s water-treatment technologies for SAGD project
Athabasca Oil Corp. (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) has awarded GE (www.ge.com) a contract to design and supply an integrated evaporator system for its 12,000-bbl/d Hangingstone oil sands operation located near Fort McMurray in northeastern Alberta, Canada. GE’s produced water evaporation process…
Air Products supplies integrated oxy-fuel solution to Jinxin Glass
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) recently signed a contract to supply its integrated oxy-fuel solution to Jinxin Glass in Jiyuan, Henan Province, China to help Jinxin reduce emissions and improve productivity and quality in its glass production. A manufacturer…
EPA proposal adds two microorganisms to exemption list
Normal 0 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, D.C.; www.epa.gov) is proposing to add two microorganisms (specific strains of the fungus Trichoderma reesei and specific subspecies of the bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) to the list of ten recipient microorganisms that…
ECHA seeks public consultation on 54 potential substances of very high concern
Normal 0 The European Commission has requested ECHA (European Chemicals Agency; Helsinki; Finland; echa.europa.eu) to prepare Annex XV dossiers for 37 substances on their behalf. Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom have also put forward proposals…
KBR to provide Purifier technology for first world-scale ammonia plant in U.S. in nearly 25 years
KBR (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by Iowa Fertilizer Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), to provide licensing, engineering services and proprietary equipment for its grassroots fertilizer plant in Southeastern Iowa. The plant will be…