Petrochemicals
India's refiners bet big on petrochemicals as industry reshapes
NEW DELHI (Reuters) — India's state oil refiners—long focused on churning out transport and cooking fuels—are planning a $35 B push into petrochemicals to meet an expected surge in demand for goods ranging from plastics to paints and adhesives.
Amec Foster Wheeler JV enters Australian petchem market with ammonia facilities contract
LONDON — Clough AMEC has won a landmark contract to provide maintenance services to ammonia facilities in Western Australia that supply international and domestic fertilizer markets and explosives used in the mining industry.
Quadrimex Chemical develops its activities in Asian refineries
Dedicated for more than 30 yr to niche chemical specialties, Quadrimex Chemical proved once again its expertise to deal with specific industrial issues through a tailor-made approach, the company said in a press release.
Fluor awarded contract for Petronas isononanol chemical plant in Malaysia
IRVING, Texas — Fluor Corporation announced that it was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract by Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn. Bhd. for an isononanol plant located in Pengerang, Johor, Malaysia. Fluor will book the undisclosed contract value in Q3 2017.
Rinchem announces expansion of infrastructure in South Korea
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Rinchem recently announced the expansion of its chemical distribution center in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.
US ethanol makers steer away from fuel, reach for booze
CHICAGO (Reuters) — A US glut of fuel-grade ethanol has major producers, including Green Plains Inc and industry pioneer Archer Daniels Midland Co, pursuing other markets and idling excess capacity in an effort to rebuild sagging margins.
Israel's Haifa Chemicals says it is closing business
JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Haifa Chemicals said on Wednesday it was closing shop and letting go of its 800 employees after failing to find a reasonable alternative to a large ammonia tank it needs to function which was ordered to be shut down earlier this year.
Identify the cause of liquid maldistribution inside packed beds
Diagnosing liquid maldistribution problems inside packed beds that can cause mass transfer efficiency loss is a challenge to process engineers.
Carburization inspection robots for radiant tubes inside ethylene cracking furnaces
In an olefins plant, the reliability of ethylene cracking furnaces is one of the deciding factors used to indicate whether or not the plant can be operated at its design productivity.
Does your control valve talk?
Pneumatic operated control valves (POCVs) are consistently the most used control final element for process control across most industries—in some cases, they are also part of the safety instrumented systems (SISs) layer.

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- bp's Whiting refinery (U.S.) continues to flare days after severe thunderstorm 8/22
- Bachmann introduces latest version M-Target for Simulink 8/22
- U.S. to rule on biofuel waivers, but big oil refiners may need to wait 8/22
- Chinese independent refiner Hongrun buys Canadian, Brazilian crude 8/22
- Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flows to Hungary, Slovakia 8/22