February 1997
Special Report: Clean Fuels
Environmental and clean-fuel requirements are creating a demand for new and innovative catalysts
Economics
Diversifying this country's investments proved to be a smart strategy, economically
Economics/Process Technology
Licensing processes does not end at basic design, rather it is a continuous communication that passes knowledge and experience between the licensor and client
Loss Prevention/Environment
Using a unique rehabilitation method, a refiner repairs an aging sewer while containing soil contamination
Management Guidelines
Information applications may best be learned by asking traditional journalism questions: who, what, when, where, why and how
Columns
Conventional wisdom has it that investments in advanced process control pay out in weeks. Pour in the money, and things will begin to happen. Years of work as an advanced control consultant have taugh..
This new thinking supersedes the old notion that lubrication automation is difficult to cost-justify or that auto-lubrication provisions can be retrofitted as needed. In a highly cost-competitive envi..
If you are a chemical engineer, you need to bookmark this site. The Chemical Engineering URL's Directory is brought to us by the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany..
Next month, HP will feature the special report on licensed-proprietary petrochemical technologies – Petrochemical Processes '97. While editing and reviewing process technologies for this feature,..
Trends and Resources
Low-cost microwave level control More accurate and reliable sensing of virtually any liquid or slurry is now claimed to be possible. A low-cost Guided Wave Radar level control system has been develope..
Ashland Chemical Co., Dublin, Ohio, a division of Ashland Inc., has acquired the water treatment business of Chemextra OY, Tampere, Finland. Terms of the acquisition have not been announced. The boil..
Advanced Scientific Computing (ASC), Ontario, Canada, has joined the software engineering arm of AEA Technology plc (AEAT), U.K. ASC is a leading provider of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) softwa..
Remote site monitoring A new family of remote site monitoring systems, said to establish new standards in price and size for telemetry units, has been introduced. The Messenger 300 Series Remote Mo..
Dow and Siam Cement to build first Asia polyethylene plant Siam Polyethylene Company, Ltd., a joint venture formed by Dow Plastics and the Siam Cement Group, will build the first Asia polyethylene pro..
Butterfly valves The Axially pliant seat in Tufline High Performance Butterfly Valves from Xomox is patented and exclusive. To assure consistent, long-life sealing, the seat's "memory core" precludes ..
World environmental market forecast to grow from $888 billion in 1996 to over $1 trillion by 2000, according to a report from the McIlvaine Co., Northbrook, Illinois. Purchases of environmental prod..
New opportunities for global energy companies are identified in two CERA (Cambridge, Massachusetts) reports, "Embracing Change" and "Emerging Global Energy Companies: Eye on the 21st Century." The fol..
Global competition and rapid technological advances will continue to influence the workplace of the future, says the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). Ten major trends are predicte..
Following years of stagnation, investment in research and development (R&D) in the U.S. will show a real increase in 1997, according to an annual forecast from Battelle, Columbus, Ohio. R&D expenditur..
The most important downstream trends are analyzed in a recent report, Refining and Marketing Investments and Insights, from Salomon Brothers. A summary of significant findings from the analysis: The..
The dust has not settled over the EPA's controversial proposal for ozone and particulate matter (PM). Earlier in January, EPA held hearings on the proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQ..
U.S. antioxidant demand is forecast to increase 3.4% annually to over 540 million pounds by the year 2000. It is valued at $1.5 billion, according to a new report by The Freedonia Group, Inc., Clevela..
Shipments of device network nodes are forecast to increase at more than 31% annually over the next five years, says a report from Automation Research Corp. (ARC), Dedham, Massachusetts. The study attr..
Engineers at the University of Alabama are studying magnetic particles dispersion to improve magnetic paint. Understanding this paint's properties at the nanometer level can enhance its performance. M..
Acetic acid holds a strong methanol demand for the next five years due to its diverse range of direct and ultimate end uses. Fig. 1 shows acetic acid's universe of applications. These include: ..
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) offers a Guide to NIST. This updated information resource describes hundreds of different research projects, grants, industry outreach program..
A recent Roper Starch poll indicates a gender gap on the question of environmental protection. The poll, commissioned by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, showed that 23% o..
Misc
Alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) have long been touted as the wave of the future to replace gasoline-powered vehicles. Yet only recently have AFVs begun to make initial penetrations into the large con..
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