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Moving to Modular

If the word “modular” brings to mind a trailer office parked on site, it’s time to revisit modular systems. Today’s modular system go well beyond office space and tool sheds, and can contain almost anything from a skid-mounted filtration system…

DSM to divest Synres business to Standard Investment

Royal DSM (Heerlen, the Netherlands; www.dsm.com) has announced it has reached agreement with Standard Investment for the sale of DSM Synres. Subject to customary approvals and notifications, the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015. Financial…

Fluor begins work on ExxonMobil Antwerp Refinery delayed coker project

Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) has started construction activities on a new delayed coker unit for ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA (ExxonMobil) at its Antwerp, Belgian petroleum refinery. Construction on the project, which will expand the refinery’s production capabilities, formally…

Large propylene production unit starts up in Russia

UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, says that UOP C3 Oleflex process technology started up and has been successfully operating in Russia, producing high-quality propylene to help meet the global supply shortage of the valuable plastics building…

Johnson Matthey divests Gold and Silver Refining business

Johnson Matthey (London; www.matthey.com) has agreed to divest its Gold and Silver Refining business to Asahi Holdings Inc.,  a collector, refiner and recycler of precious and rare metals from waste materials, for £118 million ($186 million) in cash, subject to…

ACS names DuPont’s Thomas Connelly as new CEO

The American Chemical Society (ACS; Washington D.C.; www.acs.org) Board of Directors has named Thomas M. Connelly, Jr., Ph.D., executive vice president and chief innovation officer at DuPont, the Society’s next executive director and chief executive officer (CEO), effective February 17,…

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Solvay boosts resin production capacity in India 

Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) is increasing resin production capacity at its plant in Panoli, Gujarat state in India, by 25% to support strong demand for its innovative ultra-high performance polymers KetaSpire and AvaSpire. Solvay's Global Business Unit Specialty Polymers…

BioAmber signs exclusive supply agreement with Oleon for biosuccinic acid in lubricants

BioAmber Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.bio-amber.com), an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals, has signed an exclusive supply agreement for bio-based succinic acid with Oleon.  Under the terms of the 5-year contract, which runs from 2014 to the end of 2018,…

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Commercial debut for a new bioleaching process

Division Radomiro Tomic of Codelco (Codelco Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile; Santiago; www.codelco.www) is adopting a bioleaching process to recover copper from low-grade ores. The process was developed by BioSigma S.A. — a joint venture (JV) of JX Nippon…

Achieving Excellence in Energy Efficiency

In today’s environmentally conscious world, industrial energy management is increasingly recognized as an essential business practice and economic necessity, rather than an on-again, off-again activity driven by energy prices and geopolitical crises. In this article, we examine the key elements…