Many important research and industrial processes require vacuum in what is referred to as the "fine vacuum" range, which is between 0.1 and 0.001 Torr. In a prior post, we talked about the fact that the Pirani style gauge is…
Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) has completed yet another major capital investment in South Africa as part of its dual-regional, multi-asset hub growth strategy in Southern Africa and North America. The company unveiled the C3 Expansion Project, which enables…
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) has decided to acquire all shares of the GMM Group, a specialty non-stick coating chemicals manufacturing company headquartered in Hong Kong, China, and concluded a stock purchase and sale agreement with GMM. GMM…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) has entered into an agreement to sell its Inorganic Specialties business to Edgewater Capital Partners LP, of Cleveland, Ohio. Inorganic Specialties includes the Evans City, Pennsylvania, USA, production site and the Specialty Alcoholates, Boranes and…
Honeywell (Morris Plains, N.J.; www.honeywell.com) announced the launch of a new business, Honeywell Research Chemicals, that will now include several brands and solvent and inorganic chemical products that were acquired from Sigma-Aldrich in December 2015. Honeywell Research Chemicals combines more…
The Specialty Chemicals Market Volume Index, a tool created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), showed that U.S. specialty chemicals market volumes were essentially flat in October. This follows a revised 0.2 percent gain in September and…
WorleyParsons Ltd. (North Sydney, Australia; www.worleyparsons.com) has been awarded a five year engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services contract for the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) and associated facilities in Qatar. Under the contract, WorleyParsons will provide EPCm services primarily for…
SNC-Lavalin (Montreal, Quebec, Canada; www.snclavalin.com) has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco), one of the largest copper producers in the world, for the construction of two sulfuric acid plants…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), featured another solid gain of 0.3 percent in November, following a gain of 0.3 percent in October and a 0.4 percent…
The BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) and Volkswagen AG (Wolfsburg, Germany; www.vw.com) international “Science Award Electrochemistry 2016” goes to Dr. William Chueh from Stanford University, California. The jury of representatives from BASF, Volkswagen and from academia selected him for his…