What is billed as the first commercial-scale plant to produce ethanol from cellulosic feed will be built in Treutlen County, Georgia, by Range Fuels, Inc. (Broomfield, Colo.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-541). The company received a construction permit from the State of Georgia last…
This system, which has multiple reactors and uses microwaves for heating, has been developed by professor Yuji Wada at the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology (edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-543), in cooperation with Shikoku Instrument Co. (Takamatsu; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-544) and…
Last month, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-546) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Huntsman Corp. (Salt Lake City, Utah) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $10.6 billion, including the assumption of debt. Huntsman has terminated its previous…
Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-548) and Crystalsev (São Paulo, Brazil; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-549) are forming a joint venture in Brazil to design and build the first integrated facility of its scale in the world for making polyethylene (PE) from sugar cane.…
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-552) plans to build the first commercial-scale plant for the production of granular polysilicon for the solar industry at its Berghausen, Germany, site. The 650-m.t./yr facility is expected to start up by the end of…
Solvay Solexis, a subsidiary of Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6898-554), and Thin Film Electronics ASA (Oslo, Norway) are cooperating to develop materials for the production of printed electronics devices.The aim of the joint-development program is to optimize ferroelectric-polymer materials to…
Plant Watch Huntsman signs agreement to host new biodiesel plant July 19, 2007 — Huntsman Corp. announced it has reached agreement with RBF Port Neches LLC (“RBF”) to operate a newly constructed biodiesel plant to be located at Huntsman’s…
Hydrogen is produced directly from biomass and other carbonaceous materials, with simultaneous capture of carbon dioxide, in a process being developed by Energy Quest, Inc. (Edmonton, Alta., Canada; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6897-533). In the PyStR (pyrolytic steam reforming) process, crushed or shredded feedstock…
Plant Watch BP, ABF and DuPont unveil $400-million investment in U.K. biofuels June 26, 2007 — BP, Associated British Foods (ABF) and DuPont announced investment plans of about $400 million, for the construction of a bioethanol plant alongside a demonstration…
Global Resource Corp. (GRC; West Berlin, N.J.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6897-534) is commercializing a technology that converts auto shredder residue (ASR) into combustible gases, liquid fuels and scrap metal using microwaves. The use of microwaves to achieve this goal has been attempted in…