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Dr. Haldor Topsøe celebrates his 99th birthday  

Management and employees are happy to congratulate the founder on this special occasion. Turning 99 is exceptional. Turning 99 with the business understanding and continuous commitment of Haldor Topsøe is unique. Through Dr. Topsøe’s life-long dedication and ambition, he has…

Global CPRI rises in April, as U.S. CPRI slips, ACC says

The Global Chemical Production Regional Index (CPRI) continued to rise in April, according to data from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) that was reported in the ACC’s latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report.   The April rise…

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‘Drop-in’ biofuels production facility in Louisiana will apply HTW gasification  

Sundrop Fuels, Inc. (Longmont, Colo. www.sundropfuels.com) has signed a comprehensive front end engineering and license agreement with Uhde Corp. of America (Pittsburgh, Pa.) for design of what will be one of the first renewable gasoline production facilities in the world.…

First microchannel F-T reactor starts up under commercial conditions

Oxford Catalysts Group/Velocys (Abingdon, U.K. and Plain City, Ohio; www.oxfordcatalysts.com) announced that the first commercial-scale microchannel Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) reactor has been successfully started up and is operating as expected at a client’s facility. The reactor, with a nominal capacity of…

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Lukoil to install the 200th Axens’ Prime-G+ Unit  

Lukoil Co. (www.lukoil.com) has selected Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net)  to provide the technology license for a new Prime-G+TM unit to desulfurize FCC (fluid catalytic cracking) gasoline at its Kstovo petroleum refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia. The unit, which…

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Lanxess starts up new nitrile butadiene rubber plant in China  

Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) has started up on schedule a nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) plant in Nantong, China, as part of its 50:50 joint venture with Taiwan’s TSRC Corp. The two companies have jointly invested $50 million (approximately €39…

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Outotec to deliver technology for copper production to Grupo México  

Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) and Grupo México have signed a contract for the delivery of solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) technology for Grupo México's Buenavista del Cobre plant, in northern México. The contract value is about €22 million. Outotec's…

U.S. CPRI slipped by 0.3% in April, ACC says

According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) slipped by 0.3% in April, following a downwardly revised 0.4% decline in March. Chemical production fell across all regions.   Using a…

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Nation Ford Chemical acquires PANA

Nation Ford Chemical (NFC; Fort Mill, S.C.; www.nationalformchem.com) has announced the acquisition of the PANA business from Bayer CropScience. PANA (N-phenyl-alpha-naphthylamine) is an important antioxidant used world-wide to protect jet engine lubricants, functional fluids and rubber. NFC is in the…

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Georg Fischer acquires Independent Pipe Products  

Georg Fischer (Schaffhausen, Switzerland; www.georgfischer.com) announced today the acquisition of Independent Pipe Products Inc. (IPP; Dallas, Tex.; www.indpipe.net), the leading U.S. provider of large diameter pipes and fittings in Polyethylene (PE). The acquisition strengthens the leading position of GF Piping…