In The News
Inorganic membranes show promise to halve energy consumption in distillation
Japanese researchers from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO; Kawasaki City; www.nedo.go.jp), Waseda University, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. (JX_NOE) and five other companies along with five more universities have developed an inorganic membrane that enables…
Bio-Based Chemicals Gain Market Acceptance
As an industry sector, bio-based chemicals have seen significant expansion over the past year, with several commercial developments occurring in a group of four-carbon commodity chemicals, including succinic acid, butanols, butadiene and butanediol. While a host of technology-based companies have…
Lewa-Nikkiso acquires Geveke
Nikkiso Co. (Tokyo, Japan) the manufacturer of fluid control technologies, has acquired Geveke B.V. (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), a sales company and system integrator of industrial pumps and compressors, as a strategic investment at this end of July 2013. Nikkiso is…
Florida project produces U.S’s first cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale
The U.S. Energy Department (DOE; Washington, D.C.; www.energy.gov) today recognized the nation’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol production at Ineos Bio’s Indian River BioEnergy Center in Vero Beach, Florida. Developed through a joint venture between Ineos Bio and New Planet Energy,…
Fluor selected for Cerro Verde mine-expansion project in Peru
Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.fluor.com) announced today that it was awarded a contract by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold to provide construction management (CM) services for the expansion of the Cerro Verde mine in Peru. Fluor previously provided engineering and procurement…
BASF to build a new plant for high-performance Ultramid in China
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is building a new Ultramid polymerization plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons (m.t.) per year in Shanghai, China. The new plant is planned to start up in 2015. “As part of our long-term…
Eurochem to establish JV in China
EuroChem (Moscow, Russia; www.eurochem.ru), Russia’s largest mineral fertilizer producer and a top ten agrochemical company globally, today announces plans to create a joint venture (JV) with Migao Corp., a China-based specialty potash fertilizer producer, in Yunnan, a province in southern…
Innovnano scales up nanostructured powders
Innovnano (Coimbra, Portugal; www.innovnano-materials.com), a manufacturer of high-performance ceramic powders, has invested in a high-tech, brand new facility for production of its nanostructured powders, including 3 and 4 mol % yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The new site is based in…
Altana to acquire rheology modifier business from Rockwood
The specialty chemicals group Altana (Wesel, Germany; www.altana.com) has signed a definite agreement to acquire the global rheology business of Rockwood Holdings Inc. The unit, currently part of Rockwood’s Performance Additives segment, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of…
Air Liquide invests an additional €50 million in the Antwerp basin
Air Liquide (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) has signed a long-term contract with BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) to supply carbon monoxide to its MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate ) production unit located in Antwerp, Belgium. Air Liquide will invest in a new…