Business & Economics
Myriant and Johnson Matthey – Davy Technologies produce bio-based butanediol
Myriant Corp. (Quincy, Mass.; www.myriant.com) and Johnson Matthey - Davy Technologies (JM Davy; London, U.K.; www.davyprotech.com) announced today the successful production of bio-butanediol (BDO) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) made from Myriant’s bio-succinic acid. The qualification work was conducted at JM Davy’s…
Air Liquide to acquire Voltaix
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) has signed an agreement to acquire Voltaix Inc., a U.S. based electronics materials company. The acquisition is expected to close later this summer, pending applicable regulatory approvals. Founded in 1986, Voltaix is a manufacturer of…
Koch Nitrogen selects Stamicarbon’s urea technology its expansion in Enid
Stamicarbon B.V. (Sittard, The Netherlands; www.stamicarbon.com), the Licensing and IP Center of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (www.mairetecnimont.com), has received two orders from Koch Nitrogen Co. (KNC) for a grass-roots urea melt and granulation plant in Enid, Oklahoma. The first of these…
Further research on effects of nanomaterials
How a nanoparticle behaves in the body is determined by the properties of the substance it consists of. The size of the particles is of secondary importance. If a biological effect is present, it can often be weakened by a…
UPM signs joint-development agreement with Renmatix in biochemicals
UPM (Helsinki, Finland; www.upm.com) and Renmatix, Inc. (King of Prussia, Pa.; www.renmatix.com), have entered into a non-exclusive joint-development agreement (JDA) in the area of biochemicals. Under terms of the JDA both companies will further develop Renmatix’s water-based Plantrose process to…
Siemens to supply wet-air-oxidation system to Qatar
Siemens Energy (www.siemens.com/energy) will supply a wet-air-oxidation treatment system to handle ethylene spent caustic as part of an ethylene plant expansion. Customer is Qatar Petrochemical Co. (QAPCO), one of the leading companies in the Middle East that produces and supplies…
U.S. specialty chemical market volume rose 0.2% in April, ACC says
The market volume for specialty chemicals in the U.S. edged upward in April, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The 0.2% gain in April matched the March, but was below the gains of January, February and…
BASF starts up t-butylamine plant in Nanjing
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has opened its world-scale t-butylamine (tBA) production plant at the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park in China. The plant is wholly-owned by BASF and is integrated into the production facilities of BASF-YPC Co. in Nanjing. With…
BASF New Business acquires Deutsche Nanoschicht
BASF New Business GmbH (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf-new-business.com) has acquired all shares of the technology company Deutsche Nanoschicht GmbH (www.d-nano.com). The BASF subsidiary and the founder and sole owner of Deutsche Nanoschicht, Michael Bäcker, have agreed on the acquisition. The parties…
Wood Group Mustang to provide services for Dow pipeline construction
Wood Group Mustang (Houston; www.mustangeng.com) has been awarded a contract by The Dow Chemical Company (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) to provide services for construction of approximately 140 miles of ethane, ethylene, propane and propylene pipelines, associated interconnections and station modifications between…