Latest News
Schneider Electric to acquire AI firm Cognite for $3.1 billion
Schneider Electric SE (Paris) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of Cognite Holding (Tempe, Ariz.), a leading provider of industrial data and AI software, in an all cash transaction valued at $3.1 billion. Industrial…
New powder-coating system allows primer and topcoat to cure together in a single bake cycle
OneCure is a patented dust-on-dust (DoD) powder-coating system that allows primer and topcoat to cure together in a single bake. OneCure has transformed finishing operations for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) needing speed, durability and consistency at scale. Built from multiple…
Lithium Hydroxide Production: How Does Electrolysis Stack Up on Cost?
The growing demand for lithium, driven by the rapid expansion of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, has intensified interest in more sustainable and economically viable refining technologies that permit domestic refining capacity. Electrolysis-based lithium refining presents a promising alternative…
Tower Doctor: Should a Doctor Diagnose by a Hunch?
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers The C2 splitter tower is the final step in ethylene plant distillation. It separates a high-purity ethylene top product (typically a few hundred ppm ethane impurity) from the ethane recycle bottoms.…
Focus On: Temperature Measurement and Control
A temperature monitor to help reveal abnormal conditions The Synchros temperature monitor (photo) is designed to gather surface and ambient temperature data that can reveal abnormal conditions across assets such as pumps, heat exchangers, rotating equipment, steam systems and heat-tracing…
New Technologies Optimize Mixing Processes
Advanced designs and controls achieve complete mixing while reducing batch times In the chemical process industries (CPI), mixing is about more than simply combining raw materials. It plays a central role in product quality and process efficiency, but it is…
Patent granted on system for feeding biomass to high-pressure reactors
One of the challenges for biofuels manufacturing is reliably feeding low-density feedstocks into high-pressure reactors, because it is difficult to feed agricultural and forest residue, as well as municipal solid waste, into pressurized systems without bridging, compaction and flow instability.…
Business News: July 2026
Plant Watch Air Liquide starts up CO2-capture pilot unit at Holcim cement facility June 11, 2026 — Air Liquide S.A. (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) started up its first industrial-scale pilot unit specifically designed for the cement sector, based on its proprietary…
Electrified process converts CO2 and biochar into industrial products
The production of salable co-products can substantially improve the economics for CO2 conversion processes. A new electrified thermochemical process developed by startup Reduciner Oy (Espoo, Finland; www.reduciner.com) combines captured CO2 streams with biochar to produce carbon monoxide, along with activated…
New insights into graphene oxide’s strengthening effects in concrete could accelerate commercial development
The nanomaterial graphene oxide (GO) has been investigated as a way to improve concrete strength, but reported results of GO’s effects have been inconsistent and detailed understanding of the mechanisms of its strength-enhancing effects has been elusive. New studies by…