Chemical Engineering
Considerable scaleup underway for continuous carbon-fiber recycling
Carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs) are used in a broad range of products, including automotive parts, construction materials and many others. Economically recycling these materials has proven challenging due to their multi-material makeup. Typically, they are chopped into pellets or strips…
Decarbonizing with Large-Scale Heat Pumps
Decarbonizing industrial process heat is challenging. Heat pumps offer a path to convert previously unused waste heat into low-carbon steam Industrial operations are notoriously difficult to decarbonize, but a project currently underway in Germany illustrates that there are viable pathways…
Business News: November 2025
Plant Watch World-scale black pellet plant begins commercial operation in Vietnam October 14, 2025 — Idemitsu Kosan Co. (Tokyo; www.idemitsu.com) has commenced commercial operation of its newly constructed plant in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam, to produce black pellets (BP), a…
“Chemical sorting” process improves separation rate of solid contaminants from automotive waste
Processes to reuse plastics from end-of-life vehicles are complicated by solid contaminants — including pre-embedded metal and rubber components of different sizes and reinforcing glass fiber. Currently, recycling solids-containing waste-plastic parts is accomplished by physical sorting processes. Honda (Tokyo, Japan;…
First continuous and scalable ambient pathway to electrically conductive plastics
Electrically conductive plastics, also known as conjugated polymers, bring many cutting-edge benefits for flexible sensors, medical devices, energy-storage systems and more. They are currently produced at relatively small volumes and come with extremely high prices. A novel technology discovered at…
Improved version of PFAS capture-and-destruction technology commissioned in Germany
Following regulations for drinking water, increasingly stringent limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in industrial wastewater are anticipated, necessitating improved technology to handle higher rates of removal, as well as to destroy the compounds in concentrated samples. Gradiant (Boston,…
Outokumpu to construct enriched ferrochrome pilot plant in New Hampshire
Outokumpu (Helsinki, Finland) is investing approximately $45 million in a new pilot plant in New Hampshire, planned to be operational in H1 of 2027. The unique pilot plant will represent a significant step forward in Outokumpu's strategy to scale up…
Siemens and Capgemini expand collaboration to develop AI technologies for engineering and manufacturing
Siemens AG (Munich, Germany) and Capgemini SE (Paris, France) are expanding their strategic partnership to co-develop AI-native digital solutions for product engineering, manufacturing and operations. Such solutions fundamentally embed artificial intelligence at their core from inception, rather than merely adding…
Syensqo to divest Oil & Gas business to SNF Group
Syensqo S.A. (Brussels, Belgium) announced that it has entered into an agreement to divest its Oil & Gas Business Unit to SNF Group (Andrézieux-Bouthéon, France), a specialty chemical company headquartered in France and a global leader in polyacrylamide production, for…
Bringing Smarter Chemistry and Manufacturing to the Battery Sector
Industry leaders’ insights on the future of battery materials supply and production At The Battery Show (Oct. 6–9; Detroit, Mich.), all eyes were on the supply chain, with wide-ranging panel discussions covering everything from emerging technologies to reduce the reliance…