Plants and projects

Foster Wheeler, BNFL Seek to Design Salt-Waste-Processing Site

Foster Wheeler USA Corp. (Clinton, NJ; www.fwc.com), Foster Wheeler Environmental and BNFL, Inc. (Fairfax, VA; www.bnfl.com) have been awarded a contract from the Dept. of Energy (DOE; Washington, DC; www.doe.gov) to prepare a conceptual

design for the Salt Waste Processing Facility (SWPF) at Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, SC. The SWPF separates high-activity cesium from low-activity waste through caustic-side solvent extraction technology. After separation, the high-activity salt waste is vitrified and stored for later disposal in a geologic repository. The low-activity salt waste would be disposed of as saltstone in SRS vaults.

BOC Launches Cryogenic Unit in NC

BOC, Inc. (Murray Hill, NJ; www.boc.com) has commissioned a $30 million air-separation unit (ASU) in Midland, NC, that cryogenically separates ambient air into nitrogen, oxygen and argon. The ASU will provide liquefied gases to customers in the Southeast U.S. in the chemicals, electronics, food, medical and pulp and paper industries, as well to Corning, Inc.'s Midland-based optical-fiber manufacturing facility.

Cyclics Builds Resin Plant at BASF

Cyclics Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of the Cyclics Corp. (Schenectady, NY; www.cyclics.com) will invest about $20 million to build a 5.5-million-lb production plant for its high-performance cyclic butylene terephthalate (CBT) resins, which are used in the automobile industry, as well a for sports and recreational equipment. This facility, slated to open in 2004, will be located at the BASF Schwarzheide site in Brandenburg, Germany.

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BOC has commissioned a new air-separation unit in Midland, NC, comparable in scale to the facility in Buffalo, NY (shown).

Beijing Sports New Nanotechnology Center Veeco Instruments, Inc. (Woodbury, NY; www.veeco.com) has established a Nanotechnology Center in Beijing, China, that will be jointly operated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing; www.cas.ac.cn).

Sunoco Erects Sulfur Plant in PA

Sunoco, Inc. (Philadelphia, PA; www.sunoco.com) plans to build and operate a sulfur plant at its refinery in Marcus Hook, PA. Black and Veatch (Kansas City, MO; www2.bv.com) will complete the front-end engineering and design, When complete, the facility will treat acid gases that are now processed at the General Chemical plant adjacent to the Marcus Hook refinery.

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Lyondell's new BDO manufacturing plant in The Netherlands enables the company to service customers in Europe, Asia and North America.

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Lyondell Chemical Starts BDO Production In The Netherlands

Lyondell Chemical Co. (Houston, TX; www.lyondell.com) has launched operations at a new 1,4-butanediol (BDO) manufacturing plant in Botlek, Rotterdam (The Netherlands). With a rated capacity of 280 million lb/yr, Lyondell's new plant is the largest BDO-- manufacturing facility in the world. Plant feedstock will be supplied by Lyondell's propylene oxide complex at Botlek, which is adjacent to the BDO facility. BDO is a key intermediate used in making thermoplastic polyesters and ure

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thane elastomers. In addition to BDO, the new plant will produce 2-methyl-1,3-- propanediol glycol (a co-product), which is used in the manufacture of saturated/un saturated polyester resins and in personal-care applications, and allyl alcohol (an intermediate product) used in production of silicone curing agents.