GEA Group AG (Bochum, Germany; www.geagroup.com) has further strengthened its Process Equipment division through the acquisition of the Dutch company Bloksma (Almere, Netherlands). Bloksma manufactures intercoolers for marine engines, oil coolers for industrial applications, double-pipe coolers for various industrial processes,…
Royal DSM N.V. (Heerlen, Netherlands; www.dsm.com) has announced plans for a substantial capital expenditure program, expected to involve up to $450 million, to increase production capacity in its Dyneema business. DSM Dyneema’s sales have grown by more than 15%/yr in…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has announced plans for a significant expansion of its production plant for the biodegradable plastic Ecoflex at the company’s Ludwigshafen site. The move will raise Ecoflex production capacities from the current 14,000 to 60,000 m.t./yr.…
Wacker Schott Solar GmbH, a joint venture (JV) of Wacker Chemie AG (Munich; www.wacker.com) and SCHOTT Solar GmbH (Alzenau, Germany), today officially commissioned a new factory in Jena for the production of silicon wafers for the solar industry. After just…
Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its Forane 22 production plant at the Changshu industrial facility in China, by incinerating HFC 23, a by-product of HCFC 22 manufacture. The project has…
Dragon Mining Sweden AB (Storuman) has purchased the CyPlus CCS Cyanide Control System from CyPlus GmbH — a wholly owned subsidiary of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) — for its Svartliden operation in Sweden. “Working closely with Svartliden’s personnel,…
Nippon Steel Materials Co., Ltd. (NSM; Tokyo, Japan; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7371-538) has developed a new catalyst for combustion engines that contains 70% less precious metals than conventional catalytic converters. The catalyst is expected to not only lead to lower costs, but also…
Although theoretically promising 80% more energy than is required to grow and convert to cellulosic ethanol, switchgrass has proven to be a difficult fuel source to break down cost effectively. With $1 million from the U.S. Depts. of Agriculture (USDA)…
Sugar-beet processors in the U.S. generate approximately 40 million tons of fiber-rich sugar-beet pulp every year as a byproduct of sucrose extraction. Most of it is used as livestock feed or in pet food. Researchers with the U.S. Agricultural Research…
In cooperation with several universities, Clariant International Ltd. (Muttenz, Switzerland; edlinks.chemengonline.com/7371-543) has developed a process to manufacture high-quality nano-sized zeolite L (Linde Type L) in technical quantities. This new range of nano-scale aluminosilicates, tradenamed Lucidot, open up a new range…