Market research firm, Research and Markets has recently released an in-depth report on the impact of Covid-19 on the Chinese chemical industry. In the report, various regional players, laws and policies, consumer behaviour and macro-economic factors have also been analysed.

Orlen Unipetrol has plans to expand its existing Litvínov steam cracker, located at the company’s production plant in Záluží, Czech Republic, by adding an 11th furnace to the project. With an investment of more than 32 million dollars, the construction of the new furnace will be based on Technip Energies’ proprietary SMK coil technology and will be commissioned in 2022.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 has been awarded to Benjamin List of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany and David W.C. MacMillan, Princeton University, USA, for their development of a precise new tool for molecular construction called organocatalysis.

KBR’s dual-pressure nitric acid technology has been selected by the Hanwha Corp. for its new 1,200 metric tons per day unit located at Yeosu in South Korea. The technology is expected to offer Capex and Opex benefits including efficient energy recovery.

Shell has teamed up with BlueAlp to develop, scale and deploy BlueAlp’s plastic waste to chemical feedstock technology. The move will enable Shell to reach its ambition of recycling 1 million tons of plastic waste a year in its global chemical plants by 2025.

Promisces, an European project aims at preventing the circulation of polluting organic compounds in the environment by developing new technological solutions in order to support Europe’s ‘zero pollution’ and ‘circular economy’ strategy. A 14-million-dollar contract has been signed between the project partners and the European Commission, thus making Promisces an active part of the European Green Deal.

Under a MOU signed between Haldor Topsoe and Shchekinoazot, both the companies will work together to reduce the carbon footprint of Shchekinoazot’s existing and future plants in the Tula region, Russia.

At Levaco Chemicals, process steam is the principal heating medium used in the reactors. To ensure that this valuable energy source is used as efficiently as possible, the company chose venturi orifice steam traps manufactured by EBE Engineering, Essen, Germany. Levaco’s plant engineer used the steam traps as a basis for comparing different steam trapping methods. His findings came as a surprise to the rest of the team.

PROCESS Worldwide brings to you the most recent plant engineering projects from all over the world. Right from breakthrough technologies to big ticket EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) contracts, find out all the projects making headlines here.

Clariant has completed the construction of its plant in Podari, Romania. Expected to produce ~50,000 tons of cellulosic ethanol per annum, the unit is claimed to be the first full-scale commercial sunliquid unit for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues.