Genomatica (San Diego, Calif.; www.genomatica.com) has obtained the exclusive worldwide rights to Beta Renewables S.p.A.’s (Rivalta Scrivia, Italy; www.betarenewables.com) Proesa process for the production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from biomass, through any fermentation-based process, pursuant to a definitive agreement signed with…
Keyuan Petrochemicals Inc. (Ningbo, China; www.keyuanpetrochemicals.com), an independent manufacturer and supplier of petrochemical products in China, today announced that one of its production lines for styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymers has commenced commercial production after successful trial production and testing late last…
On January 1, 2012, Cera System Verschleißschutz GmbH (Hermsdorf, Germany; www.cerasystem.de) — a company specializing in ceramics — became a member of the Samson Group AG (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; www.samson.de). The acquisition supplements the Samson product range to include…
Toyo Engineering Corp. (Toyo; Chiba, Japan; www.toyo-eng.co.jp) has been awarded a contract for a caprolactam plant for DSM Nanjing Chemical Co., which is a joint venture company between Royal DSM N.V. (Heerlen, the Netherlands) and Sinopec Group. The project aims…
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf) has signed a contract to sell its 50%-share in PEC-Rhin (Ottmarsheim, France), to its joint venture (JV) partner GPN, a member of the French Total Group. PEC-Rhin produces CAN/AN (calcium ammonium nitrate/ammonium nitrate) fertilizers and…
Chemical prices, excluding pharmaceuticals, fell 0.9% in December, while industrial production rose 0.4%, according to data compiled from various sources and discussed in the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). …
Torresol Energy S.A. (Madrid, Spain; www.torresolenergy.com), a joint venture (JV) between Sener IngenierˇËa y Sistemas (Sener; Madrid, Spain; www.sener.es) and Masdar (Abu Dhabi; www.masdaruae.com) says that the Valle 1 and Valle 2 plants — two identical 50-MW parabolic trough plants,…
The first polylactic acid (PLA) plant running with innovative Sulzer technology was successfully put into service by Synbra Technology in Etten Leur, the Netherlands (photo, below). The plant was built by Sulzer Chemtech Ltd. (Winterthur, Switzerland; www.sulzerchemtech.com) and is based…
UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com), a Honeywell company, has been selected by Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co. to provide technologies for the production of key petrochemicals and high-quality diesel and jet fuel at its complex in Daesan, South Korea. The…
The environmentally compatible cement Celitement developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; Karlsruhe, Germany; www.kit.edu) has been granted the 2011 German Innovation Award for Climate and the Environment (IKU). Celitement GmbH (Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany; www.celitement.de) founded by KIT, the four…