Aiming to understand the nature of the synergistic effect of ultrasound and enzymes in the production of fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass, researchers from the Institute of Chemical Technology (Mumbai, India; www.ictmumbai.edu.in) have studied the ultrasound-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis of waste…
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing (IZFP; Saarbrücken, Germany; www.izfp.fraunhofer.de) have developed the so-called Magnus hybrid — an inspection system that combines micromagnetic and ultrasound techniques to characterize materials. The micromagnetic method helps determine hardness, tensile strength and…
Corbion Purac (Amsterdam, the Netherlands www.corbion.com) will accelerate its thrust into the biotechnology arena, making the next step in the bioplastics value chain by becoming a PLA producer. With entry into PLA, Corbion Purac intends to bring new biodegradable solutions…
Messer Group (Bad Soden/Frankfurt, Germany; www.messergroup.com) is building its third gasses production plant in Vietnam. The new contract for oxygen and nitrogen that Hoa Phat Steel, the largest steel producer in Vietnam, signed in October with Messer, will run for…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Toda Kogyo Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.todakogyo.co.jp), an industry leader in the development and manufacture of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, have agreed to form a joint venture (JV) for cathode active materials (CAM) in…
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) has agreed to divest its Business Line Energy Storage to Johnson Matthey Plc. (London; www.matthey.com). The total consideration of the sale amounts to $75 million at closing which is expected early 2015. The Energy Storage business…
The National Titanium Dioxide Co. (Cristal; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; www.cristal.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire the titanium dioxide assets of Jiangxi Tikon Titanium Co. The Jiangxi Tikon manufacturing facility is located in the city of Fuzhou in Jiangxi…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) will expand the production capacity of its existing world-scale production plant for t-butylamine (tBA) at the Nanjing Chemical Industry Park in China. The company plans to increase the existing production capacity by 60%, from 10,000…
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has been awarded a contract by JSC MMC Norilsk Nickel to modernize and rebuild Norilsk Nickel’s nickel flash-smelting furnace at Nadezhda smelter in Norilsk, Russia. The contract value in these types of total rebuilds is…
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com), in a joint venture (JV) with Technip (Paris, France; www.technip.com), was awarded a contract to continue to support Sasol with the detailed design, procurement and construction of its world-scale ethane cracker and derivatives complex in…