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Business News: July 2026
Plant Watch Air Liquide starts up CO2-capture pilot unit at Holcim cement facility June 11, 2026 — Air Liquide S.A. (Paris, France; www.airliquide.com) started up its first industrial-scale pilot unit specifically designed for the cement sector, based on its proprietary…
New insights into graphene oxide’s strengthening effects in concrete could accelerate commercial development
The nanomaterial graphene oxide (GO) has been investigated as a way to improve concrete strength, but reported results of GO’s effects have been inconsistent and detailed understanding of the mechanisms of its strength-enhancing effects has been elusive. New studies by…
Kuraray Expedites Catalyst Development with AI-Powered Materials-Discovery Platform
Specialty chemicals company Kuraray drastically accelerated decision-making and resource allotment by leveraging an AI-driven platform in its R&D division Materials discovery has long been the backbone of the chemical process industries (CPI), driving advances in resins, specialty chemicals, advanced fibers,…
Tower Doctor: Should a Doctor Diagnose by a Hunch?
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers The C2 splitter tower is the final step in ethylene plant distillation. It separates a high-purity ethylene top product (typically a few hundred ppm ethane impurity) from the ethane recycle bottoms.…
Ionomer-free plastic for vacuum packaging applications results from collaboration
Ionomers (polymers that can form cross-links between chains due to ionized functional groups) are often used for vacuum-packaged products because they have the strength needed to resist puncture and tearing when vacuum is applied. Due to material shortages for ionomer…
Electrolysis at Scale: Unlocking Sustainable Lithium Hydroxide Production
Electrolysis-based lithium refining presents a promising alternative to conventional approaches, offering benefits related to reduced reagent consumption and effluent production, higher-purity products and an improved environmental footprint Electrolysis, a process that uses electric current to drive non-spontaneous chemical reactions, has…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Particle Stress and Feed Requirements for Impact Milling
The chemical process industries (CPI) include many applications of impact comminution to process solid matter, such as minerals, chemical products, foods and pharmaceutical products. This one-page reference discusses conditions for particle fracture and feed characteristics in industrial milling equipment. Particle…
INEOS Enterprises completes sale of INEOS Calabrian to Ecovyst
INEOS Enterprises announced the completion of the sale of INEOS Calabrian, its ultra-pure sulfur dioxide and derivatives business, to Ecovyst Inc. (Malvern, Pa.). The transaction, valued at $190 million, marks the successful conclusion of a strategic divestment first announced in…
Endress+Hauser opens two new facilities in the U.S.
The Endress+Hauser Group (Reinach, Switzerland) opened two new facilities in the United States in June 2026. With these locations in Greenwood, Indiana, and Edgmont, Pennsylvania, the company is further expanding its presence in the country and strengthening its collaboration with…
Novel forward osmosis–membrane distillation system deployed for pharma ingredients production
Japanese pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Peptistar has integrated Asahi Kasei Corp.'s novel forward osmosis–membrane distillation (FO–MD) system into its facility for trial production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Asahi Kasei announced in 2018 the development of a…