QuantumSphere, Inc. (Santa Ana, Calif.; www.qsinano.com) has commercialized electrodes coated with the firm’s Nano NiFe catalysts for making hydrogen in water electrolyzers. Available in production quantities, the electrodes effectively increase the surface area used in commercial electrolysis by about 1,000…
Time consuming and prone to error, microscopy — the manual counting of yeast cells with a hemocytometer — has long been the primary method for determining the progress of ethanol fermentation. However, a new joint development agreement between Fluid Imaging…
The global market for carbon-capture technologies was worth $88.7 billion in 2007, and is expected to increase to over $236.3 billion by 2012, according to a report published last month by BCC Research (Wellesley, Mass.; www.bccresearch.com). Postcombustion, the absorption of…
The high salt concentrations, extreme pH values and high temperatures required in biotechnological research on extremophiles and marine organisms cause corrosion in the stainless-steel components of common fermenters. To enable further process development in these areas, Bioengineering AG (Wald, Switzerland;…
Last month, Cargill (Minneapolis, Min.; www.cargill.com) broke ground in Chicago on a $22-million manufacturing plant for producing BiOH polyols. Scheduled for startup in November, the facility will be the first world-scale biobased polyols plant; since BiOH polyols were commercialized in…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) is investing in the production of its sustainable complexing agent Trilon M, thereby consolidating its position as one of the world’s leading producers of complexing agents. The construction of a new world-scale plant at Ludwigshafen…
Evonik Industries AG (Essen; www.evonik.com) and SolarWorld AG (Bonn, both Germany; www.solarworld.de) have officially opened their new solar silicon plant in Rheinfelden (Baden, Germany). As part of the joint venture Joint Solar Silicon (JSSI), the two companies are using an…
Süd-Chemie AG (Munich, Germany; www.sud-chemie.com) is to significantly expand its leading position on the European market for bentonite-based speciality chemicals for the foundry and construction industries, and will establish Süd-Chemie IMIC Italia S.r.l., Silvano Pietra/Italien. Süd-Chemie will take over a…
Arabian Industrial Fibres company, an affiliate of SABIC, has selected LyondellBasell Industries (Rotterdam, Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com) Spheripol process technology for a new 525,000 ton/yr polypropylene (PP) plant in Yanbu, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Startup of this largest single Spheripol line ever…
The French chemical group Arkema plans an expansion of its hydrogen peroxide factory in Leuna, Germany. By 2010, the production capacity of the plant will be expanded to 80,000 ton/yr. Arkema Deutschland GmbH has awarded Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH (CAC; Chemnitz,…