Chemical Engineering
Organic flow-battery electrolyte powered by a supramolecular “handshake”
Flow batteries have been widely deployed in large-scale energy-storage applications in recent years, but the low energy density and high cost of the incumbent vanadium electrolyte limit the long-term return on investment of such systems. A new organic redox flow-battery…
Editor Commentary: Inflection point for interoperability
The idea of vendor-neutral industrial control systems built on open standards that allow for interoperability among hardware and software components has been swirling within the industrial automation industry for the past 12 years, but progress toward this objective to date…
Business News: March 2026
Plant Watch Solstice Advanced Materials to expand uranium conversion site in Illinois February 11, 2026 — Solstice Advanced Materials (Morris Plains, N.J.; www.solstice.com) has invested in debottlenecking projects at its facility in Metropolis Works, Ill., resulting in a production expansion…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Generative AI Use Cases in the CPI
Many in the chemical process industries (CPI) view generative artificial intelligence (genAI) as a powerful augmentation layer for the modern chemical workforce, and one that can unlock insights faster, lead to leaner operations and provide a more intuitive interface between…
Scale-Up Considerations for New Technologies
Scaling up new technologies is a strategic challenge requiring foresight and disciplined execution. Success demands designing pilot plants with scalability in mind. Applying a set of principles outlined here can reduce risk, improve investor confidence and enhance the likelihood of…
Drive to Zero Process Safety: Mapping Cultural Risk Factors
Proactive culture evaluation closes the gap between root causes and cultural factors to promote sustainable safety leadership while also preventing recurring accidents and chronic incidents Incident investigations commonly show that human factors have led to process safety issues. Yet, despite…
Choosing the Right Toll Processing Partner to Navigate Supply Chain Disruption
In a sector where capacity constraints, regulatory demands, and raw material shortages increasingly threaten day-to-day operations, it is crucial for chemical processors to understand the key factors to consider when selecting a toll processing partner Chemical manufacturers are currently working…
Research project looks to eliminate PFAS and iridium from PEM electrolysis
The PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysis process, which is particularly suitable for producing green hydrogen when the supply of electricity from wind power and photovoltaic systems fluctuates, is still very expensive compared to production using fossil fuels. Sustainability is also…
Saint-Gobain makes acquisitions in Dominican Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands
Saint-Gobain S.A. (Courbevoie, France) is reinforcing its construction chemicals position with an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Morteros de Europa in the Dominican Republic; and an agreement to acquire Grouttech, i.e. Grout Techniek B.V. (Netherlands) and Grout Techniek…
Asahi Kasei to acquire German biopharmaceutical company Aicuris for €780 million
Asahi Kasei Corp. (Tokyo) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all issued shares of Aicuris Anti-infective Cures AG, a German-based biopharmaceutical company, for approximately €780 million. This transaction expands Asahi Kasei’s specialty pharmaceutical platform further into…