Kaneka Starts New Biopolymers Division Kaneka Americas Holding, Inc. announced on Tuesday the establishment of the new Houston-based Biopolymers Division. PHBH (a copolymer of 3-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyhexanoate) from Kaneka is a plant-based product offering flexibility as well as heat resistance. It is produced through a novel process of bio-fermentation using renewable plant oils as feed stock. PHBH … Read more
W. R. Grace & Co. announced today that it has signed an agreement with TechnipFMC PLC to jointly develop improved catalyst and process technology related to TechnipFMC Deep Catalytic Cracking (TDCC). TDCC is a high-severity fluid catalytic cracking process licensed by TechnipFMC and designed to produce very high yields of propylene and other petrochemical feedstocks. … Read more
Air Products announced on Monday that it made an agreement to build, own and operate a second air separation unit (ASU) to support the expansion of Big River Steel LLC at its Osceola mill in Arkansas. The 250 ton / day unit is expected to start in January 2021 to supply oxygen, nitrogen and argon to … Read more
Saudi Aramco announced on Sunday it will buy Royal Dutch Shell’s 50% interest in the SASREF refinery in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia, for $631 million. The sale is expected to complete later this year, subject to regulatory approval. According to the statement, Aramco will take full ownership of the 305,000 barrels per day refinery … Read more
A joint lab project between Wacker Chemie AG and Beijing Oriental Yuhong Waterproof Technology Co., Ltd. was officially launched in Beijing on Thursday, aiming to further strengthen the upstream-downstream cooperation in the waterproof coatings industry. With the joint labs set up in respective workplaces, the two companies will work together on the fundamental research and … Read more
Dow Chemical is closing its acrylic emulsions facility in east Charlotte this July. The company said that it made the decision after thorough assessments on sustainability of the operations. The company will decommission the plant on July 31st and will supply the product to its customers from other locations. The Charlotte site produces acrylic emulsions … Read more
Celanese Corporation announced today its plans to significantly expand methanol production capacity at the company’s Clear Lake acetyl intermediates manufacturing facility located in Pasadena, Texas. Celanese has recently been granted approvals from the Fairway Methanol LLC board of directors for a second phase expansion, which will increase production to 1.7 million metric tons per year … Read more
Nouryon has completed a €4 million ($4.5 m) expansion at Mahad, India which will increase organic peroxides production capacity at the site by 80 percent. The increased capacity will support growing customer demand in India and the Middle East for organic peroxides, essential in the manufacture of polymer-based products such as athletic shoe soles, wind … Read more
Deepak Fertilizers announced the start of commercial output of nitric acid at its production complex at Dahej, Gujarat. The new facility, with project cost of approximately $79 million, has production capacity of around 92,000 tonne per annum for concentrated nitric acid and around 14,9000 tonne/annum for diluted nitric acid, the company said. This new facility … Read more
BP, Nouryon and the Port of Rotterdam have partnered to explore the opportunity of making ‘ green hydrogen’ via water electrolysis for BP’s refinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. According to Nouryon, green hydrogen produced from water using renewable energy could potentially lead to a 350,000 tons reduction in CO2 emissions per year. The three partners have signed … Read more
CNPC and the Chinese regional government of Xinjiang performed the ground breaking ceremony for the first ethane cracker project in the region on Thursday. The cracker, which will be built with an investment of 9 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China’s leading oil and gas corporation, is the largest investment … Read more
INEOS Styrolution announced that it is planning to set up a new production site for its successful composite StyLight. “The establishment of a new production site reflects growing customer demand. Ever since its introduction at the K in Düsseldorf in 2016, StyLight has caught the attention of designers globally in the automotive, electronics and sports … Read more
Axens to supply several advanced technologies for its state-of-the-art 9 MTPA integrated refinery and petrochemical complex of HPCL to be set in Pachpadra Tehsil of Barmer District of Rajasthan, the engineering firm announced on Monday. As part of the project, Axens will provide the following technologies: – a naphtha hydrotreating unit (NHT) – a semi-regenerative … Read more
Evonik announced on Monday that the company is commissioning a new plant initially for the production of KALCATTM and in the long-term also Metalyst Activated Metal Catalysts at its Catalyst’s manufacturing site in Dombivli, India. This new state of the art production facility allows Evonik to fully utilize its capacities in Dombivli while establishing significant … Read more
EGA (Emirates Global Aluminium), the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, announced the start-up of Al Taweelah alumina refinery, a strategic growth project that expands the industrial giant’s business upstream in the aluminium value chain. Alumina is the feedstock for aluminium smelters and is refined from bauxite ore. Once … Read more
BASF will increase the production capacity of Alkylethanolamines (AEOA) by 20 percent at the BASF Verbund site in Ludwigshafen, Germany. After the start-up in 2020, BASF’s global annual nameplate capacity of AEOA will be more than 110,000 metric tons per year at its production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany; Geismar, USA; and Nanjing, China. “As one … Read more
Dow signed an agreement on Tuesday with PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols to collaborate on a carbon project at PETRONAS’ world-scale ethylene oxide (“EO”) production facility in support of the Official Carbon Partnership between Dow and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Together, Dow and PETRONAS Chemicals Glycols are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the operations … Read more
Praj Industries announced its collaboration with Gevo, Inc, USA to offer technology for production of high energy renewable aviation jet fuels. The company signed a construction license agreement (CLA) with Gevo, Inc, USA dated 4 April 2019, to commercialize technology for the production of Isobutanol using sugar-based feedstocks, such as juice, syrup and molasses. According … Read more
Evonik announced on Monday that it will expand its production capacity of transparent polyamides at the Marl Chemical Park (Germany) which the company sells under the brand TROGAMID CX. Production expansion is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2020. The project will double the specialty chemicals company’s capacity for its transparent, high-performance materials. … Read more
INEOS Styrolution has announced the completion of the first successful test runs to produce virgin polystyrene from recycled monomer. Completed at the company’s Antwerp site in Belgium, these experiments can be viewed as practical proof of polystyrene recyclability and as a game changer for INEOS Styrolution in polystyrene production. The product is the result of … Read more