Capital intensity is among the current constraints on industrial-scale fermentation, because the hardware for steam sterilization of bioreactors is complex and expensive. After recently emerging from stealth status, the startup company Biosphere (Oakland, Calif.; www.biosphere.io) has launched a new reactor…
Many separation processes depend on chemical or thermal principles, such as solvent extraction or distillation, but in some cases, mechanical methods can provide effective separations with lower cost and energy requirements. Eirex (Vaughan, Ont., Canada; www.eirex.ca) has developed a proprietary…
An ExxonMobil Corp. (Spring, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com) adhesive-resin finishing facility in Baton Rouge, La. has become the first commercial process-manufacturing facility to be controlled by an open, standards-based process automation system. This is a departure from the closed, proprietary systems currently…
Plant Watch LG Chem set to commence production of bio-based acrylic acid February 13, 2025 — LG Chem Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.lgchem.com) will commence the production of bio-based acrylic acid in the second quarter of 2025, with plans to…
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (Waltham, Mass.) announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement with Solventum to acquire Solventum’s Purification & Filtration business for approximately $4.1 billion in cash. Solventum’s Purification & Filtration business is a leading provider…
Evertis Packaging Solutions (Portalegre, Portugal), the world’s largest PET multilayer film supplier for the food industry, unveiled plans to build a new leading edge production plant in Columbia, SC. With a total investment of $100 million, the new facility is…
Ruland Engineering & Consulting GmbH (Neustadt, Germany) has been planning and building process systems for the production of liquid products since 2000. What began with just seven employees has developed into an international company with 320 employees and 5 locations.…
Johnson Matthey plc (JM; London) officially unveiled its state-of-the-art Advanced Cracking Evaluation (ACE) units and associated equipment acquired last year from Kayser Technology Inc., a leader in catalyst and additive testing. This multi-million-dollar investment is aimed at enhancing JM’s innovation…
Arkema S.A. (Colombes, France) has decided to increase its polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) capacity by 15% in North America. This capacity expansion of Arkema’s PVDF production site in Calvert City, Kentucky, represents an investment of around $20 million and is aligned…
LG Chem Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea) announced that it will collaborate with HL Mando, a leading Korean automotive parts maker, to co-develop adhesives for automotive electronic components. This move aims to expand LG Chem's presence in the automotive adhesive market.…