Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, Japan; www.mhi.co.jp) has successfully established technology to produce ethanol for automobile fuel, satisfying the standards of the Japanese Automotive Standards Organization (JASO), from lignocellulose (soft cellulose) such as rice straw and barley straw. Verification…
KBR, Inc. (Houston; www.kbr.com) has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by KiOR, Inc. (Pasadena, Tex.; www.kior.com) to build a first-of-its-kind biomass-to-renewable crude facility to be located in Columbus, Miss. The facility is designed to process approximately…
Cobalt Technologies (Mountain View, Calif; www.cobalttech.com) and American Process Inc. (API; Atlanta, Ga.; www.americanprocess.com) today announced an agreement to build the world’s first industrial-scale cellulosic biorefinery to produce biobutanol. Additionally, the companies agreed to jointly market a GreenPower+ Biobutanol solution to…
Avantium Pharma BV (Amsterdam, the Netherlands; www.avantium.com), a leader in solid-state research and pre-formulation for the pharmaceutical industry over the last 11 years, has been spun out from Avantium Holding BV in a management buy-out to create Crystallics (www.crystallics.com). The…
Borealis AG (Vienna, Austria; www.borealis.com) has invested €7.8 million to convert an underground naphta cavern in Stenungsund, Sweden, for butane use. The new cavern is now by far the largest in Europe, and can handle both butane at ambient temperature…
Metso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland; www.metso.com) has concluded an agreement to supply all main technology for the 1.5 million tonnes greenfield pulp mill of Suzano Papel e Celulose S.A., to be built in the state of Maranhão in the northeastern part…
Pöyry Plc’s (Vantaa, Finland; www.poyry.com) Industry Business Group has been awarded a contract for supporting services for the overall project and construction management by Eldorado Celulose e Papel Ltda for its 1.5-million ton/yr bleached eucalyptus market pulp mill to be…
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) has signed an agreement with JGC Corp. ((Yokohama, Japan; www.jgc.co.jp) to supply its proprietary propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant process and MCR main heat exchanger for a 2-million ton/yr liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in…
Effective April 1, Dorf Ketal Chemicals Pvt., Ltd. Mumbai, India; www.dorfketal.com), the world leader in organic titanate and zirconate catalysts, is now the exclusive source for Vertec polyester catalysts and Snapcure polyurethane catalysts and cure promoters. The company acquired patents…
Leverkusen, Seoul, Texas – Lanxess AG (Leverkusen, Germany; www.lanxess.com) is further expanding its capacities to produce solution styrene butadiene (SSBR) and neodymium polybutadiene (Nd-PBR) rubbers in order to meet growing global demand for high-performance, environmentally friendly “green” tires. An additional…