In The News
October Chementator Briefs
Strength with stress Shear forces usually break bonds in polymer materials, but a research team at Duke University (Durham, N.C.; www.duke.edu) has demonstrated for the first time synthetic polymers capable of forming new bonds in the presence of shear…
These resins make tastier orange juice
A process from Dow Water & Process Solutions (DW&PS; Edina, Minn.; www.dowwaterandprocess.com) uses a unique adsorbent resin to improve the taste of orange juice. Amberlite FPX66 is a macroreticular, non-functionalized adsorbent resin with a pore structure designed to capture a…
Control particle size and morphology with this technique
Lactose has been widely used as a pharmaceutical excipient, where the size and morphology of the particles of lactose significantly affect the functionality of the resultant drug product. Lactose particles produced by various methods exhibit various morphologies, such as spherical…
New approach for biobutanol reaches ‘lab-pilot’ scale
A continuous fermentation process for making biologically derived butanol from a variety of sugar feedstocks is operating at what developers call “lab-pilot” scale, producing 2.5 liters per day. Engineering studies conducted by the research team forecast that it could be…
Clariant acquires organic pigment business, invests in new plant in China
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) today announced that it has acquired the Organic Pigment business of Jiangsu Multicolor Fine Chemical Co., Ltd (JMC; Jiangsu Province, China). JMC is a leading supplier of several types of high performance pigments and pigment preparations…
Malvern Instruments acquires NanoSight
Malvern Instruments Ltd. (Malvern, U.K.; www.malvernpanalytical.com/en), a leading global provider of instrumentation and expertise for materials and biophysical characterization, has acquired nanoparticle characterization company NanoSight Ltd. (Amesbury, UK; www.malvernpanalytical.com/en/products/product-range/nanosight-range/nanosight-pro). The acquisition was completed on Friday 27 September 2013. NanoSight has…
Solvay to build large bicarbonate plant in Thailand
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) plans to build South-East Asia's largest sodium bicarbonate plant. Located in Thailand and with a total capacity of 100,000 ton/yr, this new facility will help meet the growing demand for high quality products from the…
Shell Cansolv and Technip to strengthen CO2 capture technology
Shell Cansolv (Montreal, Canada; www.cansolv.com) and Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com) have signed an agreement to leverage their respective expertise in marketing an end-to-end solution for Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) projects. The agreement enables both Technip and Shell Cansolv to…
Biesterfeld France Produits SpeÌciaux EURL aquires SMPC Production
Biesterfeld France Produits SpeÌciaux EURL (Rueil-Malmaison near Paris, France), the French subsidiary of Biesterfeld Spezialchemie GmbH (Hamburg, Germany; www.biesterfeld-spezialchemie.com), has acquired the French company SMPC Production located in St. Ouen l‘Aumone with effect from April, 2013. Name and headquarters of…
BASF announces cash offer to acquire Verenium
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com)says that its U.S. affiliate, BASF Corp., has entered into an agreement to commence a cash tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the biotechnology company Verenium Corp. (San Diego, Calif.)…