Wood bags multi-million-dollar steam methane reformer contract

Wood Group has been awarded a new multi-million-dollar contract with Hyundai Engineering. To provide detailed engineering services and material supply for a steam methane reformer, part of a new Wood-licensed hydrogen production unit for the Melaka Refinery Diesel Euro 5 Project in Malaysia.

Wood will deploy its leading proprietary Terrace WallTM technology for hydrogen production as part of the contract, which will be delivered by the company’s process technology specialists based in Milan.

Read more: Wood bags multi-million-dollar steam methane reformer contract

GSFC inks license pact with Mitsui Chemicals to set up MMA plant

Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals (GSFC) announced signing of a license agreement with Mitsui Chemicals Incorporation (MCI) for setting up of a methyl metha acrylate plant.

Currently, the entire domestic requirement of methyl metha acrylate (MAA) is met through imports.

With establishment of this plant, nearly 80 percent of the country's demand will be met through locally, the company said in a regulatory filing.

GSFC's proposed plant would have an annual production capacity of 64,800 tonnes of MAA.

Read more: GSFC inks license pact with Mitsui Chemicals to set up MMA plant

McDermott appoints TechnipFMC executive as COO

McDermott International Inc (MDR) has appointed Samik Mukherjee as new executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO).

Recently, Samik was the executive vice president of corporate development, strategy, mergers and acquisitions, digital and IT for TechnipFMC.

As the COO, Samik will be responsible for globally leading McDermott's operations covering the four geographic areas. He will also oversee McDermott's key product lines and services to ensure internal strategy and decisions are based on a strong understanding of customer needs.

He has more than 25 years of experience in operations as well as commercial and strategy roles, having served in leadership roles for the upstream and downstream oil and gas industry

Read more: McDermott appoints TechnipFMC executive as COO

Indorama to buy Europe's largest tire cord producer Kordarna

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL) has entered into an agreement to acquire Kordarna Plus as, the largest producer of tire cord fabrics in Europe.

The Kordarna acquisition from Jet Investment includes one production site in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia, with a combined tire cord and technical fabrics production capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). The company employs 786 employees.

The transaction is expected to be completed during the second half of 2018.

Tire cord fabrics (TCF) represent about 75 percent of Kordarna’s sales. Kordarna has a broad customer base and long-established relationship with major global tire companies. Its products are supplied to customers in more than 15 countries in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.

Read more: Indorama to buy Europe's largest tire cord producer Kordarna

Praxair sells European assets to Taiyo Nippon Sanso for €5 billion

Praxair Inc in accordance with its proposed business combination with Linde AG has signed an agreement to sell the majority of its businesses in Europe to Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation.

The divested businesses generated annual sales of approximately 1.3 billion euros in 2017. The purchase price for this transaction is €5.0 billion in cash consideration. This agreement is conditioned on the successful completion of the Praxair-Linde merger and other regulatory approvals.

The assets to be sold include Praxair’s industrial gases businesses in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom and include approximately 2,500 employees.

Praxair and Linde continue to work diligently with the relevant antitrust authorities with the objective of closing the merger during the second half of 2018.

Read more: Praxair sells European assets to Taiyo Nippon Sanso for €5 billion

KBR to revamp Haifa Chemicals’ nitric acid plant in Israel

KBR Inc (NKBR) has been awarded a nitric acid plant revamp contractby Haifa Chemicals Ltd for its plant in Mishor-Rotem, Israel.

Under the terms of the contract, KBR subsidiary Weatherly Inc will design, supply and commission a complete system for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NOx), with additional catalyst beds for N2O and NH3 slip abatement.

The SCR system will be integrated into two existing Nitric Acid plants of 240 mtpd and 147 mtpd capacity that Haifa operates in Israel. Both plants were designed by KBR Weatherly and commissioned in 1987 and 1999 respectively. 

Read more: KBR to revamp Haifa Chemicals’ nitric acid plant in Israel

Chemists synthesis biorenewable, biodegradable plastic alternative

Colorado State University polymer chemists have taken another step toward a future of high-performance, biorenewable, biodegradable plastics.

The team led by Professor of Chemistry Eugene Chen describes chemical synthesis of a polymer called bacterial poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) ­– or P3HB. The compound shows early promise as a substitute for petroleum plastics in major industrial uses.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

P3HB is a biomaterial, typically produced by bacteria, algae and other microorganisms, and is used in some biomedical applications. Its high production costs and limited volumes render the material impractical in more widespread commodity applications, however.

Read more: Chemists synthesis biorenewable, biodegradable plastic alternative