Meredian, Inc. (Bainbridge, Ga.; www.meredian.com), a privately held biopolymer manufacturer, and Tate & Lyle Plc (London, U.K.; www.tateandlyle.com), a leading global provider of specialty food ingredients and solutions, have confirmed successful pilot production of Meredian’s polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) formulation process. The…
Most chemical processes are born in the laboratory. The challenge for engineers is to then convert the laboratory method into a large and economically sound industrial process. Unfortunately, many promising technologies never see the light of day; some because of…
Celanese Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com) has announced that the company will expand its compounding capabilities at its Nanjing, China, integrated chemical complex to include Fortron polyphenylene sulfide (PPS). The PPS compounding expansion is expected to be operational by year-end 2014.…
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE; Rugby, U.K.; www.icheme.org) has given its support to the Trillion Tonne Communiqué — a global call to arms from organizations who take the science of climate change seriously and demand a proactive policy response.…
Milliken & Co. (Spartanburg, S.C.; www.milliken.com) has unveiled plans for a major capacity expansion of its Millad NX 8000 clarifying agent for polypropylene (PP) at its Allen facility in Blacksburg, S.C. The company will double its production and add an…
Songwon Industrial Co. (Ulsan, Korea; www.songwon.com) and SeQuent Scientific Limited (Bangalore, India; www.sequent.in) have signed an agreement whereby Songwon will acquire SeQuent's specialty chemicals business. The acquisition includes SeQuent's entire polymer stabilizer business and one production site in Panoli, Gujarat,…
Novozymes A/S (Bagsvaerd, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) today announced the establishment of a new research and development center in the U.S. dedicated to its bioagriculture business. The center will be located near the Research Triangle Park in Cary, North Carolina, where the…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), has reached its highest peak since March 2008. Even accounting for seasonal adjustments, the unusually harsh winter skewed earlier data, and…
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.shinetsu.co.jp) has decided to establish a new rare-earth magnet manufacturing plant in the Vietnam. The manufacturing capacity of the new plant will be 2,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) and the investment amount is about…
PolyOne Corp. (Avon Lake, Ohio; www.polyone.com) is establishing a new innovation center in Shanghai, China. The new site will facilitate collaboration, accelerate application development and increase speed-to-market for customers in the Asia Pacific region. The state-of-the-art facility will be…