Chemical Engineering July 2010 - 67

Economic Indicators
BUSINESS NEWS
PLANT WATCH
U.A.E. to become home of world's
largest CSP plant
June 10, 2010 - Masdar (Abu Dhabi; www.
masdar.ae) has appointed the bidding
consortium of Total (Paris, France; www.total.
com) and Abengoa Solar (Seville, Spain;
www.abengoasolar.com) to own, build and
operate Shams 1, said to be the world's largest
concentrated solar power (CSP) plant,
and the first of its kind in the Middle East. The
joint venture between Masdar (60%), Total
(20%) and Abengoa Solar (20%) will develop,
build, operate and maintain the plant,
which will be located in Madinat Zayed in
the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). Construction
is slated to begin during 3rdQ 2010 and
is expected to take about two years.
KBR is awarded a contract for the Araromi
Refinery Project in Nigeria
June 2, 2010 - KBR Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.
com) has been awarded a contract by FPR
Inc. (Houston) to provide design and early
engineering services for the development
of the Araromi Refinery Project in Nigeria. The
low-complexity 160,000-bbl/d greenfield
refinery will produce motor gasoline, automotive
gas oil, kerosene and jet fuel. The
project will be developed in phases, with an
ultimate capacity of 320,000 bbl/d with a
full petrochemical complex.
Aker Solutions named in contract for first
Russian chlorine-dioxide plant
June 1, 2010 - Aker Solutions (www.akersolutions.com)
has signed a contract with Ilim
Group to supply an integrated chlorine-dioxide
plant for Ilim's pulp mill project in Bratsk,
Russia. The 15-metric ton (m.t.) per day integrated
chlorine-dioxide plant is scheduled
for commissioning in 2012, and will complement
Ilim's $700 million project to build a
new, modern 720,000 m.t./yr pulp line at
Ilim Group's existing Bratsk Mill. The plant will
utilize Aker Solutions' proprietary integrated
chlorine-dioxide process technology.
Dow Corning invests in innovation
and solar energy
June 1, 2010 - The Dow Corning Corp. (Midland,
Mich.; www.dowcorning.com) has announced
that it will invest up to $13 million
to expand its European capabilities to innovate
with silicon-based materials and technologies.
The investment in a Solar Energy
Exploration / Development Center (SEED)
includes two new buildings that will complement
the company's Business & Technology
Center in Seneffe, Belgium. Construction is
expected to begin later in 2010.
Cellulosic biofuel to be
demonstrated in China
May 31, 2010 - Novozymes A/S (Bagsvaerd,
Denmark: www.novozymes.com), Cofco Ltd.
(www.cofco.com/en) and Sinopec Corp.
(both Beijing, China; english.sinopec.com)
have signed a memorandum of understanding
covering the next steps toward commercialization
of cellulosic biofuel in China. As
part of the agreement, Cofco and Sinopec
will build a cellulosic ethanol demonstration
plant for which Novozymes will supply enzymes.
The new plant comes online in the 3rd
Q of 2011 and will produce 3-million gal/yr of
bioethanol made from corn stover.
Borouge signs an agreement to build
second compounding plant in China
May 28, 2010 - Borouge, a joint venture between
the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
(ADNOC; Abu Dhabi; www.adnoc.com)
and Borealis (Vienna, Austria; www.borealisgroup.com)
has announced its intention to
build a manufacturing plant to produce up
to 105,000 m.t./yr of compounded polypropylene
resins. Construction is expected to
be completed by mid-2012.
Instant-coffee plant to be delivered by
GEA Niro in Laos
May 26, 2010 - GEA Niro (Soeborg,
Denmark; www.niro.com) has recently won
a contract with Dao Heuang Group in Laos
for the delivery of a complete instant-coffee
processing line. When in full production the
processing line will produce 3,000 ton/yr
of instant coffee and is scheduled to start
operation in November 2011. The plant will
be constructed in Pakse and will be one of
the country's largest food-processing plants.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
Wacker acquires silicon
production site in Norway
June 7, 2010 - Wacker Chemie AG (Munich,
Germany; www.wacker.com) is acquiring
the Norwegian Fesil Group's silicon-metal
production site in Holla and will take over
all of Fesil's production facilities in Holla. The
transaction requires approval of Wacker's
supervisory board and Fesil's board of directors
as well as clearance by the antitrust
authorities. Closing of the transaction is expected
before the end of the 3rd Q 2010.
Evonik acquires Ravindra Heraeus
catalyst business
June 7, 2010 - Evonik Industries AG (Essen,
Germany; www.evonik.com) has acquired
the precious-metal-powder catalysts business
of Ravindra Heraeus Pvt. Ltd. (Udaipur,
Rajasthan, India). All know-how, technology,
and business relationships with catalyst customers
will pass from Ravindra Heraeus to
Evonik, while the production equipment will
remain with Ravindra Heraeus. Both partners
have also concluded longterm agreements
concerning contract manufacturing and
precious metal recycling. Ravindra Heraeus
is a joint venture between the precious
metal and technology company Heraeus
(Hanau, Germany) and the family enterprise
Ravindra Choksi (India). Each partner
holds a 50% stake in the joint venture.
GE and Ramky enter into agreements for
industrial water treatment
June 7, 2010 - GE (Fairfield,Conn.; www.
ge.com) and Ramky Enviro Engineers, an
environment and waste management organization,
have signed emergency water and
industrial-wastewater treatment agreements
designed to address India's industrial-wastewater
treatment and recycling needs. Under
the agreement, GE's ultra filtration (UF) and
membrane bioreactor (MBR) technologies
will be utilized by Ramky for wastewater treatment
and recycling in India's industrial sector.
Total acquires interest in a developer of
polysilicon production technology
June 7, 2010 - Total (Paris, France; www.
total.com) has announced that its subsidiary,
Total Gas & Power USA has acquired a
25.4% interest in the U.S.-startup company,
AE Polysilicon Corp. (AEP), which has developed
an advanced technology to produce
polysilicon for photovoltaic panels (for more
on polysilicon production, see CE, April 2010,
pp. 21-26). The acquisition is being made
through a reserved capital increase.
UPL to acquire fungicide from DuPont
Crop Protection Business
June 2, 2010 - DuPont (Willmington, Del.;
www.dupont.com) has announced that
it has divested its global non-mixture mancozeb
fungicide business assets to United
Phosphorus, Ltd. (UPL), including manufacturing
and formulation production facilities
in Barranquilla, Colombia. Financial terms of
the agreement were not disclosed.
■
Dorothy Lozowski
FOR ADDITIONAL NEWS AS IT DEVELOPS, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHE.COM
July 2010; VOL. 117; NO. 7
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http://www.evonik.com http://www.masdar.ae http://www.total http://www.novozymes.com http://www.abengoasolar.com http://www.cofco.com/en http://english.sinopec.com http://www.kbr http://www.ge.com http://www.adnoc.com http://www.borealis http://www.group.com http://www.niro.com http://www.akerso http://www.lutions.com http://www.total.com http://www.wacker.com http://www.dupont.com http://www.dowcorning.com http://WWW.CHE.COM http://WWW.CHE.COM

Chemical Engineering July 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering July 2010