In The News
BASF and Sinopec inaugurate acrylic acid and SAP plants in Nanjing
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Sinopec Corp. (Beijing, China; www.sinopec.com) today inaugurated two new plants for acrylic acid and superabsorbent polymers (SAP) at their state-of-the-art Verbund site, BASF-YPC Co., a 50-50 joint venture (JV) in Nanjing, China. Additionally, a…
Styron plans to convert Ni-BR rubber-production line to Nd-BR
Styron (Horgen, Switzerland; www.styron.com) says that it will convert its nickel butadiene rubber (Ni-BR) production train in Schkopau, Germany, to neodymium butadiene rubber (Nd-BR). Coupled with Styron’s existing leading technology in solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR), the Nd-BR offering will…
CB&I lands refining technology award in China
CB&I (The Woodlands, Tex.; ) says that its Chevron Lummus Global joint venture has been awarded a contract valued in excess of $100 million. The scope of work includes the license, engineering design package and catalyst supply for three grassroots…
Ashland opens new center of excellence in Hyderabad
Ashland Specialty Ingredients, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc. (Covington, Ky.; www.ashland.com) held a grand opening ceremony for the opening of a new pharmaceutical center of excellence in Hyderabad, India. This is the ninth center of excellence that Ashland Specialty…
BASF and Toda Kogyo enter negotiations to form a JV for CAMs
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Toda Kogyo Corp. (Tokyo, Japan; www.todakogyo.co.jp), one of the industry leaders in the development and manufacture of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, have announced that they will enter exclusive negotiations to form a joint…
Outotec to deliver technology for high-purity alumina plant in Canada
Outotec Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.outotec.com) has agreed with Orbite Aluminae Inc. on the delivery of a new calcination system for Orbite's high-purity alumina production facility located in Cap-Chat, Québec. The contract value is below €10 million and it has been…
This new water-treatment polymer improves scale control in boilers
A newly developed proprietary terpolymer from GE Water and Process Technologies (Trevose, Pa.; www.gewater.com) has been shown to provide improved scale control on heat-transfer surfaces in low- to intermediate- (up to 900 psig) pressure-steam boilers. Deposit formation on heat-transfer and…
A solid chelating ligand for making heterogeneous catalysts
Shinji Inagaki and colleagues at Toyota Central R&D Labs, Inc. (Nagakute City, Japan; www.tytlabs.com) have synthesized an entirely new immobilization support that can be used to recycle and reuse metalo-organic-complex catalysts, which are widely used for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals…
CO2-utilizing electrocatalytic reaction cell demonstrated
Production of monoethylene glycol (MEG) from waste carbon dioxide has been validated in a demonstration-scale reaction cell developed by Liquid Light Corp. (Monmouth Junction, N.J.; www.llchemical.com). The company says the catalytic-electrochemistry-technology platform used to make MEG can also produce a…
A promising process to recover Li from seawater
Lithium is an element of growing importance for the production of batteries and nuclear fuels. Because Japan relies completely on imports of this material, with the majority coming from South America, the country is looking for alternative sources for this…