Corrosion Technology Forum 2018

A two-day conclave on Corrosion Technology Forum, will focus on corrosion problems in chemical & process industry by galaxy of national & international experts, organized by Worldofchemicals.com & the society for surface protective coatings India. Corrosion Technology Forum will be centering on various issues related to corrosion control, mitigation and methodologies to assess the damage due to corrosion

Get more information here: Corrosion Technology Forum 

EuroChem appoints current COO as next chief executive

EuroChem Group AG has appointed of Dmitry Strashnov as its chief executive officer, effective 1 July 2018.

Strashnov succeeds EuroChem’s current CEO, Dmitry Strezhnev, who announced his desire to step aside earlier this year after 15 years in the role. He will continue to serve on the group’s board of directors.

Strashnov, who joined EuroChem in November 2017 as chief operating officer, brings a wealth of international management experience to the role. He was CEO of Russian Post from 2013 to 2017. Before that, he was a member of the management board at Tele2 AB, and previously was CEO of Philips Consumer Electronics in Russia.

“The board is delighted that Dmitry Strashnov will assume the leadership role of the group. He is a strong strategic thinker and operational leader who will ensure the group remains focused on its global aspirations. I would like to thank Dmitry Strezhnev for his outstanding leadership of EuroChem from a small company to a top 10 industry leader worldwide,” said Alexander Landia, chairman, EuroChem.

Read more: EuroChem appoints current COO as next chief executive

Fire breaks at Privi aromatic chemicals unit near Mumbai

A major fire broke out after a blast at a chemicals factory in adjoining Raigad district, a senior official said.

A fire broke out at the factory of Privi Organics Limited, which has two manufacturing plants in the MIDC area of Mahad, Raigad district collector Dr Vijay Suryawanshi told PTI.

Privi Organics manufactures aromatic chemicals, the IAS officer said.

There was a blast in one of the plants shortly after noon, Suryawanshi said. "The fire spread fast due to strong wind and engulfed the plant, spreading to a nearby industrial oil company," he added.

Read more: Fire breaks at Privi aromatic chemicals unit near Mumbai

BP, Socar sign Azerbaijan exploration agreement

BP plc and Socar have signed a new production sharing agreement (PSA) for the joint exploration and development of Block D230 in the North Absheron basin in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea.

The PSA was signed in London, in the presence of UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, by Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR, and BP group chief executive Bob Dudley.

Block D230 lies some 135 kilometres (84 miles) north-east of Baku in the Caspian Sea. It covers an area of some 3,200 square kilometres and has not previously been explored. It has water depths of 400-600 meters and anticipated reservoir depths of about 3,500 meters.

Under the PSA, which is for 25 years, BP will be the operator during the exploration phase holding a 50 percent interest while Socar will hold the remaining 50 percent interest.

Read more: BP, Socar sign Azerbaijan exploration agreement

BASF buys additional €1.7 bn crop science assets from Bayer

BASF SE has agreed to acquire additional seeds and crop protection assets from Bayer AG valued at €1.7 billion, in context of Bayer’s planned acquisition of Monsanto.

The additional assets include:

• Bayer’s entire vegetable seeds business, operating under the global trademark Nunhem,
• seed treatment products sold under the Poncho, VOTiVO, COPeO and ILeVO brands,
• the R&D platform for hybrid wheat and
• the complete state-of-the-art digital farming platform xarvio.

The transaction also includes Bayer’s oilseed rape business in Australia; certain glyphosate-based herbicides in Europe, used mainly for industrial applications; the canola-quality juncea research and certain non-selective herbicide and nematicide research projects.

This acquisition is in addition to the agreement BASF and Bayer signed on October 2017, which entails the acquisition of Bayer’s global glufosinate-ammonium non-selective herbicide business; seeds businesses for key row crops in select markets and trait research and breeding capabilities for these crops along with the LibertyLink trait and trademark.

Read more: BASF buys additional €1.7 bn crop science assets from Bayer

AkzoNobel appoints Andersen as member of supervisory board

AkzoNobel NV has appointed Nils Andersen as a new member of the supervisory board and subsequently appointed chairman by the board.

Nils Andersen will succeed Antony Burgmans, who was the previous chairman and served three terms as a member of the supervisory board. Louis Hughes has also stepped down after serving three terms.

Nils Andersen is a non-executive director at BP plc and Unilever, where he serves on the audit committees of both companies. Nils was group chief executive (CEO) of AP Moller – Maersk from 2007 until 2016 and had previously been president and CEO of Carlsberg and Carlsberg Breweries.

Read more: AkzoNobel appoints Andersen as member of supervisory board

CB&I bags storage contract for export facility in Canada

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I) has been awarded a contract valued at nearly $35 million by a leading Canadian infrastructure company for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) spheres.

Read more: CB&I bags storage contract for export facility in Canada

BASF increases Basonat hardeners capacity at Ludwigshafen site

BASF SE has expanded its capacities for the production of Basonat hardeners at the Ludwigshafen site. The high-quality polyisocyanates are used for the formulation of automotive and industrial coatings, furniture and flooring coatings as well as adhesives.

Basonat polyisocyanates are aliphatic crosslinkers for high-performance coatings systems. Basonat hardeners are used in combination with binders containing hydroxyl groups for crosslinkers in two-component polyurethane (PUR) coatings.

In addition, BASF offers a broad portfolio of binders, light stabilizers and formulation additives for 2K PU coatings that combine perfectly with Basonat hardeners.

Read more: BASF increases Basonat hardeners capacity at Ludwigshafen site

Bayer launches digital farming product in Europe

Bayer has launched its xarvio field manager in five countries – Germany, France, Austria, Poland, and Ukraine. The new digital solution is, for now, available in field crops such as wheat, barley, potato, sugar beet and oilseed rape. Further expansion to other crops and countries is expected in the coming months. 

Field manager will support European farmers in growing healthy crops by providing recommendations about the right dosage, timing and place of crop protection application. It will for example help farmers manage some of the most damaging diseases in cereals such as Septoria Tritici and rust, which cause high management costs and can lead to severe yield losses if not monitored and detected early enough.

In the past months, more than 500 farmers around the world tested Field Manager and the results are very convincing: Through a more targeted application with variable rate application maps and an optimized crop protection strategy, farmers were able to manage pests and diseases more efficiently, resulting in up to €15 per hectare higher return on investment. Also, one of the challenges with many precision farming technologies is complexity. Field manager delivers a simple interface and is designed to integrate with precision agriculture equipment already available in cabs.

Read more: Bayer launches digital farming product in Europe

Honeywell opens first cyber security centre in Asia

Honeywell (HON) has opened its first industrial cyber security centre of excellence (CoE) in Asia. The centre was developed with the support of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EBD) and designed to help defend the region's industrial manufacturers against evolving cyber security threats.

The new cyber security centre is located in Singapore's Changi Business Park and the third Honeywell facility of its kind in the world. Earlier this year, the company opened a new centre in Dubai that serves customers in the Middle East and Europe. Honeywell's original cyber security centre is located in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

The cyber security centre will be used to conduct proprietary research, develop new security technologies, provide hands-on training and certifications, and test and validate actual solutions deployed at customer sites. In addition to serving as a research and development lab, it also will deliver managed security services to help customers reduce the risk of security breaches and proactively improve their security posture. These services include continuous security and performance monitoring and alerting, threat detection and risk management, security device management, and incident response with 24-hour expert support 365 days a year.

Read more: Honeywell opens first cyber security centre in Asia

BP names former Statoil CEO as next chairman

BP plc has appointed Helge Lund (55) to succeed Carl-Henric Svanberg as chairman of the company. Lund will join the BP board as chairman-designate and a non-executive director on 1 September 2018. He will be appointed chairman on 1 January 2019.

Lund who is also chairman of Novo Nordisk AS in Denmark will stand down with immediate effect from his directorship at Schlumberger, the global oil service group.

Helge Lund served as chief executive of BG Group from 2015 to 2016 when the company merged with Shell. He joined BG Group from Statoil where he served as president & CEO for 10 years from 2004.

He is an operating advisor to Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the US investment firm. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group and served as a member on the United Nations Secretary-General’s advisory group on Sustainable Energy in the period 2011-14.

Read more: BP names former Statoil CEO as next chairman

DSM, Chromatic 3D Materials partner on 3D printing

Royal DSM has entered into a partnership with Chromatic 3D Materials to introduce thermoset materials for 3D printing of finished manufactured goods. With the collaboration, DSM further expands its portfolio, now offering the broadest selection of 3D printing materials for the broadest range of printing technologies.

Chromatic 3D is one of the few companies that know how to develop technologies to 3D-print with thermosets, a broad class of materials offering adaptability, durability and resilience not possible with thermoplastics used in conventional 3D printing processes.

Combining DSM’s global market access and expertise with Chromatic’s patented technology, the partners will jointly develop thermoset materials that DSM’s customer’s strategic growth markets are looking for to 3D-print end-use applications. Initial products to be rolled out by DSM include industrial-grade soft and durable thermosets, which are complementary to DSM’s current portfolio of thermoplastics for fused filament fabrication (FFF). Starting immediately, the companies will build a broader portfolio based on customer needs in the strategic markets of footwear (in- and midsoles), transportation (such as in the growing area of automotive electronics), healthcare, electronics and tooling.

Read more: DSM, Chromatic 3D Materials partner on 3D printing

Corrosion Technology Forum 2018

Corrosion Technology Forum is a two day conference organised by Worldofchemicals.com and the society for surface protective coatings India. The conclave will focus on corrosion problems, corrosion control mitigation and corrosion resistance technologies. Galaxy of national and international experts joining the conference as speakers. 
Find more information here: Corrosion Technology Forum 2018

Shell makes final investment decision regarding Vito project

Shell Offshore Inc (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc has announced the final investment decision for Vito, a deep-waterdevelopment in US Gulf of Mexico. With a forward-looking, break-even price estimated to be less than $35 per barrel. This decision sets in motion the construction and fabrication of a new, simplified host design and subsea infrastructure.

Vito is expected to reach peak production of approximately 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, which represents a significant contribution to our continued growth in the Gulf of Mexico. The development currently has an estimated, recoverable resource of 300 million boe.

In 2015, Shell began to redesign the Vito project, reducing cost estimates by more than 70 percent from the original concept. Vito’s cost savings are due to the simplified design, in addition to working collaboratively with vendors in a variety of areas including well design and completions, subsea, contracting, and topsides design.

The Vito development is owned by Shell Offshore Inc (63.11 percent operator) and Statoil USA E&P Inc (36.89 percent); the field is located beneath more than 4,000 feet of water, approximately 150-miles southeast of New Orleans. 

Read more: Shell makes final investment decision regarding Vito project

Total, Google Cloud to develop AI solutions for oil exploration

Total SA and Google Cloud have signed an agreement to jointly develop artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. This will be applied to subsurface data analysis for oil and gas exploration and production. 

The agreement focuses on the development of AI programs that will make it possible to interpret subsurface images, notably from seismic studies (using computer vision technology) and automate the analysis of technical documents (using natural language processing technology).

These programs will allow Total’s geologists, geophysicists, reservoir and geo-information engineers to explore and assess oil & gas fields faster and more effectively.

Under this partnership, Total geoscientists will work side-by-side with Google Cloud’s machine learning experts within the same project team based in Google Cloud’s Advanced Solutions Lab in California. 

Artificial intelligence applied to exploration & production at Total

Total started applying artificial intelligence to characterize oil & gas fields using machine learning algorithms in the 1990s. 

In 2013, Total used machine learning algorithms to implement predictive maintenance for turbines, pumps and compressors at its industrial facilities, thus generating savings of several hundred million dollars. 

Read more: Total, Google Cloud to develop AI solutions for oil exploration

Albemarle, DuPont collaborates on hydroprocessing technology

Albemarle Corporation (ALB) said that it is the primary hydroprocessing catalyst manufacturer for the DuPont IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology, making clean fuels production more cost efficient for refiners.

IsoTherming is an innovative hydroprocessing technology that can lower capital and operational costs.

Albemarle and DuPont announce their exclusive collaboration in licensing the IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology and providing aftermarket products and services.

"We are excited to collaborate with DuPont in supporting the IsoTherming technology. We look forward to further development of our IsoTherming catalyst application know-how with DuPont, to meet our clients' most challenging process conditions," said Annemie Donkers, VP clean fuels technologies at Albemarle.

Read more: Albemarle, DuPont collaborates on hydroprocessing technology

Praxair to supply industrial gases to Samsung’s semiconductor facility

Praxair Inc (PX) has signed a long-term agreement to supply ultra-high purity industrial gases to Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

Industrial gases include nitrogen, oxygen, argon, as well as hydrogen. This is Praxair’s largest investment in a single customer project to date.

Praxair will build, own and operate several hydrogen plants and air separation units that will supply the gases to meet Samsung’s growing semiconductor demands worldwide. Praxair will also build multiple purifiers and an extensive pipeline system to support the project. The first of Praxair’s new plants will start up in 2019.

Read more: Praxair to supply industrial gases to Samsung’s semiconductor facility

Shell to sell Argentina downstream business for $0.95 bn

Royal Dutch Shell plc has signed an agreement to sell its downstream business in Argentina to Raizen for $0.95 billion in cash proceeds at completion.

The sale includes the Buenos Aires Refinery, around 645 retail stations, liquefied petroleum gas, marine fuels, aviation fuels, bitumen, chemicals and lubricants businesses, as well as supply and distribution activities in the country. Additionally, after the transaction closes, the businesses acquired by Raizen will continue their relationships with Shell through various commercial agreements, which represent an estimated value of $0.3 billion.

Raizen is a joint venture set up in 2011 between Shell and Cosan. It is a leading biofuels producer and fuels distributor in Brazil, where it already manages more than 6,000 Shell service stations.

The agreement is consistent with Shell’s strategy to simplify its portfolio through a $30 billion divestment programme and follows a strategic review of Shell’s Downstream business in Argentina that began in August 2016. The agreement with Raizen is the result of a competitive bidding process and the sale is expected to complete later this year. It offers the opportunity to consolidate a regional partnership between Shell and Cosan.

Read more: Shell to sell Argentina downstream business for $0.95 bn

DSM, Ultimaker partner on 3D printing materials

Royal DSM has announced a partnership with equipment manufacturer Ultimaker to meet the growing demand for industrial-grade engineering fused filament fabrication (FFF) materials. The company also said that it will demonstrate its expanded portfolio of 3D printing materials, for stereolithography (SLA) and FFF.

DSM recently brought together the company’s experience and expertise to form a new additive manufacturing (AM) business unit, combining deep market-specific application understanding and expertise for polymer AM processing technologies.

DSM will showcase their expanding materials portfolio for use in additive manufacturing - Somos materials for SLA and digital light processing (DLP) as well as materials for FFF such as Arnitel, Arnite and Novamid. DSM Additive Manufacturing is investing heavily in bringing new filaments to market in the coming months, while exploring other 3D printing technologies.

Partnership with Ultimaker

To enable end users to easily 3D-print its materials into high quality parts, DSM is partnering with Ultimaker in their alliance program. Combining their material knowledge with Ultimaker’s insights, gives end users access to a broader scope of professional applications and allows them to print automatically using preconfigured settings available in Ultimaker Cura. This collaboration provides DSM a new route to market, in addition to the existing relationship with Nexeo Solutions 3D for distribution and application development engineering services.

Read more: DSM, Ultimaker partner on 3D printing materials