Royal DSM N.V. (Heerlen, the Netherlands; www.dsm.com) and Roquette Frères (Lestrem, France; www.roquette.com) have signed a joint-venture (JV) agreement for the production, commercialization and market development of bio-based succinic acid, subject to regulatory approvals and notifications. The formation of the JV…
The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE; Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov) announced today the investment of up to $24 million for three research groups to tackle key hurdles in the commercialization of algae-based biofuels. The selections will support the development of a…
Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan; www.teijin.co.jp) announced today that a 10-month pilot test conducted with PUB, Singapore’s national water agency has proven that a Teijin-designed system based on HiPOx, an advanced oxidation process utilizing ozone and hydrogen peroxide, enhances the performance…
Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) will expand the production capacity of its butyl rubber plant in Zwijndrecht, Belgium, by 10% to meet growing global demand for regular butyl and halobutyl synthetic rubber. The company will invest €20 million to increase capacity…
PAS (Houston; www.pas.com), a leading supplier of software products and consulting services to the processing industries worldwide, announces the release of Integrity Recon software, which improves the reliability of automation systems composed of Microsoft-based computing platforms. These platforms reside on…
Process Systems Enterprise Ltd. (PSE; London, U.K.; www.psenterprise.com), providers of the world-leading gPROMS advanced process modeling (APM) software and related services, today released gPROMS version 3.3. gPROMS v3.3 continues PSE’s philosophy of advancing the frontiers of high-fidelity predictive process modeling…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has reached an agreement with Cognis Holding Luxembourg S.à r.l. controlled by Permira Funds, GS Capital Partners and SV Life Sciences to acquire the specialty chemicals company Cognis for an equity purchase price of €700…
The engineering and construction company M+W Group (formerly M+W Zander; Stuttgart, Germany; www.mwgroup.net) has successfully completed its first order to build a lithium-ion battery plant. In Varkaus, Finland the Finnish battery manufacturer European Batteries Oy has commissioned its new factory…
Global chemical output is expected to grow 7.2% in 2010, the American Chemistry Council (Arlington, Va.; www.americanchemistry.com) says in its just released 2nd Quarter 2010 Situation & Outlook report. The anticipated 2010 gain will be followed by a more moderate 5.0%…
KBR, Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded a contract by Tierra Del Fuego Power & Chemical Co., Ltd. to provide licensing and process design for a grassroots ammonia plant in Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. KBR will license its conventional ammonia…