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‘Preorganization’ strategies allow polymer degradation through self-deconstruction
Designing plastics that can be broken down easily after their use phase have often required a trade-off between stability and ease of deconstruction. Recent research by scientists at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, N.J.; www.rutgers.edu) opens a path to resolve that…
Securing the Industrial Edge: Protecting Legacy Systems in the IIoT Era
Edge platforms, which provide a liaison between networks and legacy equipment, can provide a layer of cybersecurity protection without infrastructure modifications Chemical processing facilities worldwide are connecting decades-old equipment to modern networks for real-time monitoring and optimization. While this digital…
Can You Trust Your Process Simulation Results?
Understanding both the limitations of process simulations and the assessments that can be performed to verify modeling results are important in the design and development of technical processes in many industries Chemical engineers routinely use process simulation software for design,…
Enhancing Characterization of Thermal Barrier Coatings
Combining microscopy and machine-learning techniques leads to faster, more precise analyses of critical coating materials When the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft was designed to soar at three times the speed of sound, engineers faced an extreme challenge: managing the heat generated…
2025 CECPI updates: Sept. (prelim.) and July (final)
A federal government shutdown in the U.S. from October 1 to November 12, 2025 disrupted the release of producer price index (PPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), so the CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI) is behind schedule.…
Mosaic to sell its potash assets in Carlsbad, New Mexico
The Mosaic Co. (Tampa, Fla.) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell Mosaic Potash Carlsbad, Inc., including the operations, assets and liabilities of the Mosaic mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico to International Minerals Carlsbad, LLC for $30…
NEXTCHEM acquires process engineering firm Ballestra Group
MAIRE S.p.A. (Milan) announced that NEXTCHEM has signed a binding agreement to acquire the entire share capital of Ballestra Group, a global leader in the licensing, design and engineering of processing plants, as well as the supply of proprietary technologies…
Bp sells its majority stake in Castrol lubricants business
Bp plc (London) has reached an agreement to sell a 65% shareholding in lubricants business Castrol to Stonepeak, at an enterprise value of $10.1 billion. This represents an implied EV / LTM EBITDA of around 8.6x reflecting the strength of…
Outlook for the Chemical Process Industries (CPI) 2026: Putting the Pieces Together
Several 2025 year-end reports and data releases paint a nuanced picture of the global chemical process industries (CPI) as we head into 2026. The complex picture reflects the diversity of industry sectors comprising the CPI, and the wide range of…
Protecting Process-Plant Operations from the Impacts of Lightning
Editor’s note: The following is a question-and-answer conversation between Chemical Engineering magazine senior editor Scott Jenkins and Sean Carpenter, solutions analyst at Lightning Eliminators & Consultants, Inc. (LEC), a leading provider of lightning protection solutions. Chemical Engineering’s questions appear below…