Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany) has opened an mRNA competence center at its biotech site in Halle (Saale), Germany. The new facility enables the large-scale production of active ingredients based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), such as anti-Covid mRNA vaccines.…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) has sold its bioenergy enzymes business based in San Diego to Lallemand's subsidiaries, Danstar Ferment AG and Lallemand Specialties Inc. This includes the Spartec product portfolio and related technologies in development. Lallemand will integrate the business…
Asahi Kasei Corp. U.S. medical subsidiary Bionova Scientific, a full-service biologics CDMO, has decided to launch a new business line providing services leveraging plasmid DNA, and establish a dedicated facility for this purpose in Texas, the U.S. With the expansion…
At the 2024 Spring Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE; www.aiche.org), a team from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL; www.netl.doe.gov) presented on a recently patented technology for the removal of critical and heavy metals from wastewater…
Nucleic acid-based medications, such as mRNA vaccines, are opening up new therapeutic approaches. These active ingredients must be enclosed inside nanoparticles to ensure that they get to where they are needed inside the body’s cells. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production…
Traditional isotope enrichment to separate radioactive atoms is highly capital intensive, and the supply chains for the materials are constrained, with the majority of enriching capability located in Russia. In a bid to expand isotope availability and lower costs, ASP…
Electrification provides an avenue for industrial decarbonization, but many electric-heating options cannot handle the high temperatures and scale required for industrial use. Electrified Thermal Solutions (ETS; Medford, Mass.; www.electrifiedthermal.com) has taken a new approach to industrial heating through its JouleHive…
Plant Watch Asahi Kasei starts operation of multi-module hydrogen pilot plant in Japan May 14, 2024 — Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo; www.asahi-kasei.com) opened a new hydrogen pilot plant in Kawasaki, Japan. In the pilot plant, four 0.8-MW electrolyzer modules are…
This positive-displacement pump has optimized efficiency The Universal 2 ND positive-displacement pump (U2 ND) Series (photo) significantly expands the WCB pump range, aimed at enhancing reliability and performance, while outperforming other pump styles, such as industrial lobe, gear or progressive-cavity…
New packings and trays encourage effectiveness and energy efficiency in traditional and emerging applications Equipment for distillation, absorption, stripping, extraction and phase separation plays a major role in the chemical process industries (CPI). However, separation processes are notoriously energy intensive,…