SolVin (www.solvinpvc.com), a joint venture of Solvay S.A.(Brussels, Belgium; www.solvay.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com), announces the successful startup of new production capacity for Diofan polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) latex at its Tavaux, France, plant. Diofan PVDC latex is a…
Dow Europe GmbH (Horgen, Switzerland; www.dow.com) announced today the start up of a new Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) plant in Schkopau, Germany. The new facility includes a capacity rights agreement with JSR Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.jsr.co.jp). Dow owns and…
Hoerbiger Holding AG (Zug, Switzerland; www.hoerbiger.com) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% ownership of Tritech Compression, Inc. (Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada). Effective, March 2, 2009, the oil field equipment supply and maintenance service company will operate as business…
The Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com) announced today that the world’s largest commercial-scale propylene oxide (PO) plant and the first based on the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com)…
Dresser Masoneilan (Houston, Tex.; www.dresser.com), an international leader in the design, manufacture, and support of process control valves and solutions, was recently chosen by steel plant and equipment supplier Danieli India Ltd to provide control valves for the Vizakhapatnam Steel…
On February 20, global specialty chemicals supplier Cognis GmbH (Monheim am Rhein, Germany; www.cognis.com) signed an agreement to sell its Botanicals Extracts Business to Burgundy Botanical Extracts Iberia, S.A. (Burgundy; www.burgundy-extracts.com). Today, Cognis and Burgundy announced that the sale of…
In the framework of the Impulse project (Integrated Multiscale Process Units with Locally Structured Elements; CE, April 2005, p. 19), researchers from the Industrial Chemistry Group at RWTH Aachen University (Germany; www.itmc.rwth-aachen.de) have developed a continuous production plant capable of…
A less-expensive way of making the raw materials for carbon anodes (for aluminum smelting) and graphite electrodes (used to make steel in electric arc furnaces) has been developed by West Virginia University (UWV; Morgantown, W.Va.; www.wvu.edu). The conventional starting materials…
Milkweed, a plant that is toxic to farm animals and other creatures, may be a future source of a base material for sunscreen and other skin care products. Milkweed is harvested for floss, used as a hypoallergenic filler for pillows…
Bioethanol Ethanol from plant and forestry waste and dedicated energy crops could replace approximately one-third of U.S. gasoline requirements by 2030 on a sustainable basis, according to a study by Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, Calif.; www.sandia.gov) and General Motors Corp.…