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UOP Russell modular equipment to process natural gas in Louisiana  

UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, announced today that PennTex Midstream Partners LLC (Houston) has selected UOP Russell to supply a gas processing plant to recover valuable natural gas liquids (NGLs) in northern Louisiana. The plant, which…

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Evonik starts isophorone facilities in China  

Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany; www.evonik.com) has commenced an integrated production complex for isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shanghai, China. The company has invested over €100 million in the facilities, which will have an annual output capacity of 50,000 metric…

BASF converts to new flame retardant at polystyrene plant in Spain

BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has become the first European manufacturer to have completely switched a production plant for XPS (extruded polystyrene rigid foam) to a new polymeric flame retardant (PolyFR), says the company. Styrodur insulating panels produced at BASF’s…

Mitsui Chem to sell organic acids business to Fuso

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (MCI; Tokyo; www.mitsuichem.com) and Fuso Chemical Co. (Osaka, Japan; www.fusokk.co.jp) have announced that MCI will transfer its organic acids business to Fuso. The business include production capacity at the Kashima Works facility in Kamisu City, Japan, consisting…

Regional differences in latest OECD CLI data, ACC report says

Data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD; Paris; www.oecd.org) composite leading indicator(CLI) for March show divergence, depending on the region, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.;…

Lockheed Martin and SABIC form JV to develop carbon nanomaterials

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; www.sabic.com) and Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md.; www.lockheedmartin.com) have announced the launching of a partnership to explore the establishment of a new joint venture (JV) company in Saudi Arabia to develop carbon nanostructure…

Celanese to expand compounding capability in Kentucky

Celanese Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.celanese.com), a global technology and specialty materials company, has announced that it will expand its manufacturing capabilities at its Florence, Kentucky, facility to add compounding process lines to support the continued customer demand for its advanced…

Asahi Kasei will double production capacity for nonwoven fibers in Thailand

Asahi Kasei’s (Tokyo, Japan; www.asahi-kasei.co.jp) Fibers division will expand production capacity for polypropylene spunbond nonwovens in Thailand at its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (AKST). AKST will add a new production line of 20,000 metric tons per year…

Bayer MaterialScience to invest in commercial-scale CO2-based polyol production

Following a successful test phase and promising market analysis, Bayer MaterialScience AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.materialscience.bayer.de) plans to invest €15 million in the construction of a production line at its Dormagen site, which will use CO2 to produce a precursor for…

Invista and LanzaTech to collaborate on developing gas-fermentation process technology

Invista (Wichita, Kan.; www.invista.com) and LanzaTech (Skokie, Ill.; www.lanzatech.com) have signed a research and development agreement focused on the development of gas-fermentation process technology for the production of industrial chemicals from carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas (CO2 and H2) feedstocks.…