Greenhouse Gases
US demand for activated carbon to grow over 15%
US demand for activated carbon, including both virgin and reactivated products sold by activated carbon suppliers, is forecast to grow 15.8% per annum to 1.2 billion pounds in 2014.
Slurry-phase hydrocracking—possible solution to refining margins
Opportunity crudes require more hydrogen addition to upgrade orphan product streams into higher-value ‘clean’ products
Convert bottom-of-the-barrel into diesel and light olefins
Integrating residue hydrocracking operations with advanced fluid catalytic cracking optimizes upgrading of heavy crude oils
Minimize carbon footprint from Claus tail-gas units
Reevaluate emissions efficiencies on sulfur-removal operations
HP Innovations: HPInnovations
Siemens expands anaerobic- digestion product offeringSiemens Water Technologies has acquired the JetMix hydraulic mixing system from Liquid Dynamics Corp. This proprietary system agitates sludge withi..
Hovensa to pay $5.3 million penalty for Clean Air Act violations
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Justice announced today that Hovensa LLC, owner of the second largest petroleum refinery in the United States, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $5.3 million and spend more than $700 million in new pollution controls that will help protect public health and resolve Clean Air Act violations at its refinery in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.
NPRA praises President Obama’s action on regulations
President Obama’s announcement today that he has ordered a review to identify federal regulations that can be eliminated because they hinder economic growth and job creation is welcome news for every American.
DuPont buying Danisco for $6.3 billion
DuPont has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Danisco, a global enzyme and specialty food ingredients company, for $5.8 billion in cash and assumption of $500 million of Danisco’s net debt.
US does not have infrastructure to consume more ethanol
The US does not have the infrastructure to meet the federal mandate for renewable fuel use with ethanol but could meet the standard with significant increases in cellulosic and next-generation biofuels, according to a Purdue University study.
NPRA joins group effort to overturn EPA’s E15 authorization
The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) has joined with two other organizations to ask a federal appeals court to overturn a recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that authorizes the sale of gasoline with 50% more ethanol for late-model vehicles. Organizations joining NPRA in the legal challenge to EPA are the International Liquid Terminals Association and the Western States Petroleum Association.

- Studi Tecnologie Progetti S.p.A. signs agreement to upgrade Attock refinery in Pakistan for $600 MM 7/1
- Maire's NEXTCHEM awarded engineering contract for Pacifico Mexinol's $3.3-B, 2.1-MMtpy low-carbon methanol project 7/1
- BASF closes purchase of DOMO Chemicals’ shares in Alsachimie JV 7/1
- deugro completes another equipment shipment for INEOS' Project One project in Belgium 7/1
- Shell renews contract with Cyberhawk, enabling a global visualization and data integration platform across its portfolio 7/1
- HyOrc and Acetech partner to develop waste-to-green methanol facility in the UK 7/1