In The News
Chementator: Making Molten Glass ‘on-the-fly’ Can Cut Energy Consumption in Half
A process that makes glass by "zapping" the raw materials with a plasma as they fly through the air is being developed by Japanese researchers in a new project led by NEDO (New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization; Kawasaki,…
Chementator: Concentrating Light to Boost Solar-Energy Efficiency
Engineers at MIT (Cambridge, Mass.; www.mit.edu) are developing solar concentrators that have the potential to increase the electrical power output from solar cells by a factor of more than 40. Instead of actually focusing the light, as in systems being…
Chementator: A Well-known Phenomenon Finds a Commercial Application in a Gas Sensor
Optoacoustic gas detection determines gas content via the measurement of acoustic pressure waves that are propagated as a gas is irradiated under an appropriately tuned light. A gaseous-mixture sample passes through a membrane into a measurement cell, which contains an…
BASF builds a new world-scale plant for Trilon M
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is investing in the production of its sustainable complexing agent Trilon M, thereby consolidating its position as one of the world’s leading producers of complexing agents. The construction of a new world-scale plant at Ludwigshafen…
Evonik and SolarWorld open new solar silicon plant
Evonik Industries AG (Essen; www.evonik.com) and SolarWorld AG (Bonn, both Germany; www.solarworld.de) have officially opened their new solar silicon plant in Rheinfelden (Baden, Germany). As part of the joint venture Joint Solar Silicon (JSSI), the two companies are using an…
Süd-Chemie and IMIC establish JV for Italy
Süd-Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.sud-chemie.com) is to significantly expand its leading position on the European market for bentonite-based speciality chemicals for the foundry and construction industries, and will establish Süd-Chemie IMIC Italia S.r.l., Silvano Pietra/Italien. Süd-Chemie will take over a…
LyondellBasell licenses PP technology to SABIC affiliate
Arabian Industrial Fibres company, an affiliate of SABIC, has selected LyondellBasell Industries (Rotterdam, Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) Spheripol process technology for a new 525,000 ton/yr polypropylene (PP) plant in Yanbu, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Startup of this largest single Spheripol line ever…
Arkema awards FEED project to CAC
The French chemical group Arkema plans an expansion of its hydrogen peroxide factory in Leuna, Germany. By 2010, the production capacity of the plant will be expanded to 80,000 ton/yr. Arkema Deutschland GmbH has awarded Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH (CAC; Chemnitz,…
Dow and Aker Solutions selected for PP project in China
PetroChina Sichuan Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (PetroChina Sichuan) has selected Unipol Polypropylene Process Technology from Dow Technology Licensing (Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com/licensing) for its new 450,000 ton/yr polypropylene (PP) facility in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and Aker Solutions ASA (Oslo, Norway; www.akersolutions.com) will…
LyondellBasell Aromatics Extraction license granted
Linhuan Coking Co. has selected LyondellBasell’s (Rotterdam, Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) Aromatics Extraction process for a new 80,000 ton/yr plant to be built at Huaibei, Anhui Province, China. Start up is scheduled for 2009. LyondellBasell´s Aromatics Extraction technology is used to produce…