The American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) reported that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes rose 1.4 percent in May, an improvement from the record 12.5 percent drop in April and declining activity since January. Of the 28 specialty chemical…
Clariant Catalysts (Munich, Germany; www.clariant.com) is expanding its high-throughput R&D center in Palo Alto, Calif. Thanks to a significant investment, the upgraded facility is fitted with the latest high-throughput equipment, and will be home to an expanded team of technical…
Clariant (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) and Ineratec (Karlsruhe, Germany; www.ineratec.de) have entered into a partnership to develop and commercialize novel technologies for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Clariant will provide its extensive catalysis expertise and broad portfolio of synthesis…
Altivia Oxide Chemicals, LLC, an affiliate of ALTIVIA Petrochemicals (Houston; www.altivia.com), today announced that it has acquired KMCO (Crosby, Tex.; www.kmcollc.com) and its associated chemical ethoxylation manufacturing assets in Crosby, Texas. The facilities, located on 160 acres near Houston, include…
Removal of dissolved ions from industrial process water, boiler feedwater or wastewater is a common challenge for facilities in the chemical process industries (CPI). Ion exchange (IX) systems offer one possible solution for demineralization, purification or wastewater-treatment applications. Ion exchange…
This column is based on “Orthophthalic Unsaturated Polyester Production Process – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/unsaturated-polyester-resin-production-cost. Unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs) are solutions of unsaturated polyesters in co-polymerizable monomers, which undergo cross-linkage to…
Controlling flow in gas-handling applications can present challenges because of the fluids’ compressibility. This article presents an overview of how compressible gases behave in response to interacting variables Gas-handling operations are common in almost every sector of the chemical process…
Rare noble gases neon, krypton and xenon have unique properties and can be obtained from air, but the economics of isolating them at air-separation units depends on demand and pricing. This article provides information on their production and use The…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.), fell 5.4 percent in May on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis following a 5.4 percent decline in April. On a year-over-year…
According to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.), the U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) tumbled 3.1 percent in April following a 1.0 percent decline in March and a 0.4 percent decline in February. During April, chemical output…