Conceptual capital-cost estimates are important for assessing the economic viability of proposed projects, but their usefulness depends on understanding how to appropriately apply the estimates Capital cost estimates are a crucial step in order to make prudent decisions regarding any…
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers This conversation started in a course I was presenting in Sydney, Australia. I was about 15 minutes into my presentation when a delegate from a major petroleum refinery stopped me. “How…
Scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, N.Y.; www.bnl.gov) and collaborating institutions have engineered a highly selective catalyst that can convert methane into methanol in a one-step reaction. The system could help make better use of “stranded” natural gas…
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) recently announced a renewable hydrogen production project at TotalEnergies (Courbevoie, France; www.totalenergies.com) La Mède (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in France) site. In the context of a long-term contract, Air Liquide will cover the hydrogen needs of…
Cyclyx International, LLC (Portsmouth, N.H.; www.10to90.com), a post-use plastic-to-feedstock innovator and joint venture among Agilyx (Oslo, Norway; www.agilyx.com), ExxonMobil (Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com), and LyondellBasell (Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com), has reached a final investment decision for a second Cyclyx Circularity Center…
INNIO Group (Jenbach, Austria; www.innio.com) today announced that it was awarded the COGEN Europe Recognition Award 2024 in the Technology and Innovation category for its 1 MW-class hydrogen combined heat and power (CHP) plant. Powered by green hydrogen, INNIO Group…
NextChem (Maire; Milan, Italy; www.nextchem.com) unveiled today its new high-tech engineering center, the “NX Engineering District”, in Catania, Sicily, in a ceremony attended by the local political and institutional leaders. The NX Engineering District, in Sicily’s Science and Technology Park,…
Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com), a sustainability-focused specialty chemical company, today announced that its MegaMax catalyst was selected for a China’s biomass gasification-to-green methanol project. The plant will use a combination of farm waste and wind power to produce up…
The preliminary value for the CE Plant Cost Index® (CEPCI) for September 2024 (most recent available) decreased slightly compared to the previous month’s value. The decline — the third consecutive monthly decrease — was driven mostly by a fall in…
Periodic analysis of heat-transfer fluids (HTFs) is among the most neglected practices in industrial settings. But over time in operation, HTFs can and do accumulate contaminants from the heat transfer system and also undergo chemical changes that negatively affect the…