Monthly Archives: December 2017

12.30.17
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Birla Carbon agreement with USEPA, to pay civil penalty


Birla Carbon agreement with USEPA, to pay civil penalty

Birla Carbon said it has entered into a consent decree with the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in connection with the USEPA’s national enforcement initiative to control air emissions from industrial sources including carbon black manufacturing facilities.The company has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $650,000 and to invest approximately $375,000 towards additional environmental mitigation projects. Birla Carbon has agreed to further reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide & particulate matter from its US carbon black plants.Read More

 

Teijin Aramid said it will increase the production capacity for its Twaron® super fibre by more than 25 percent. This additional capacity will become available within the next five years (year 2022). Teijin Aramid is currently implementing a new spinning technology at its Twaron facility in Emmen, the Netherlands, as was communicated in July 2017. The extra capacity of that investment will become available as of May 2018. The demand for Teijin’s high-performance para-aramid fibre Twaron is increasing all the time, and the market outlook is positive. Read More

The board of directors of Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCMB) has named the group’s chief operating officer (COO) cum chief financial officer (CFO), Nik Fazila binti Nik Mohamed Shihabuddin as the new group managing director of CCMB. Her appointment will take effect upon the completion of the demerger of CCM Duopharma Biotech Berhad (CCMD) from CCM. Nik Fazila, 51, succeeds Leonard Ariff bin Abdul Shatar who will continue to spearhead CCMD as its group managing director (GMD). Read More

 

Eastman Chemical Company announced mechanical completion of its coal gasification plant and is currently in the process of restarting. The restart, along with mitigating actions taken since the incident, is expected to enable full production of acetyls chemicals and derivatives in early 2018. “Our teams of Eastman employees and contractors have been working to safely repair the facility as quickly as possible and I am confident that we have taken the appropriate corrective actions to ensure the highest safety standard as we restart and resume normal operation,” said Mark Cox, senior vice president, chief manufacturing, supply chain and engineering officer. Read More
12.29.17
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Chemical sector: Outlook and opportunities


Chemical sector: Outlook and opportunities

By Aditi Yadwadkar: Overview of the Australian Chemical Sector- A number of Australian industries, including healthcare, food, construction, packaging, and information technology are dependent on steady supply of chemicals. As stated by the Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science of the Australian government, the chemical and plastic industry in Australia can support 109 industries out of 111 industries through the huge range of supplies it offers. Read More

 

Samsung Engineering has been awarded a contract from Sabic’s manufacturing affiliate, Jubail United Petrochemical Company (United), for a $ 700 million ethylene oxide–ethylene glycol (EO/EG) plant in Saudi Arabia, to produce 700,000 MTPA MEG.The project will be executed in Jubail Industrial City located in the east of Saudi Arabia, 100 km north of Dammam, construction completion expected in 2020.Samsung Engineering is one of top EG plant builders globally, with previous delivering 16 plants in total. Read More

 

Coromandel International Limited, India’s second largest phosphatic fertiliser player with interests in fertilisers, crop protection, speciality nutrients, organic fertilisers, has signed a term sheet to acquire the bio-pesticides business from E.I.D. Parry together with its wholly owned subsidiary Parry America, Inc, USA.The transaction is valued at Rs 338 crore, which includes purchase of bio-pesticides business of E.I.D. Parry together with its R&D unit, captive plantations and its wholly owned subsidiary Parry America Inc.  Read More

 

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc (PotashCorp) and Agrium Inc (AGU) said that they have received clearance from the United States’ Federal Trade Commission and have now obtained all regulatory approvals required to close their proposed merger of equals transaction.The transaction is expected to close effective 1 January 2018.With the closing of the transaction on 1 January 2018, the common shares of Nutrien are expected to commence trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “NTR” at the opening of market on January 2, 2018. Read More

12.28.17
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Let there be light


Let there be light

In an interview, Ajay Pisat, Doctoral Candidate, Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University with Chemical Today Magazine talks at length about his research on improving the efficiency of photocatalytic water splitting process on perovskite family.Gregory Rohrer (Department Head and Professor of Materials Science & Engineering) and Paul Salvador (Professor of Materials Science & Engineering) from Carnegie Mellon University. Read More

 

Borealis and Borouge, leading providers of innovative, value-creating plastics solutions, announce the launch of Anteo™, a new family of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) packaging grades for the global packaging market. Boasting a unique combination of end-use properties for high-performance film applications, Anteo completes the full solution offer for high performance, multilayer flexible packaging applications using Borealis Borstar® Bimodal Terpolymer (BBT) Technology. Read More

In an interview, Niraj Vinayak, Vice President, Oil & Gas and Chemicals, Industrial Automation, ABB India with Chemical Today Magazine delves into ways in which demand for chemicals is forcing industries to adopt automation to enhance operations.By Debarati Das: Global automation trends in chemical industry. The chemical, oil & gas industry has had dependence on automation in most sub-verticals to the extent that it has remained one of the mission-critical equipment for plant operations. Read More

The worldwide quest by researchers to find better, more efficient materials for tomorrow’s solar panels is usually slow and painstaking. Researchers typically must produce lab samples — which are often composed of multiple layers of different materials bonded together — for extensive testing. Now, a team at MIT and other institutions has come up with a way to bypass such expensive and time-consuming fabrication and testing, allowing for a rapid screening of far more variations that would be practical through the traditional approach. Read More

12.27.17
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A pill of paradigm change


A pill of paradigm change

In an interview, Kanish Malik, President, Operations, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, with Chemical Today Magazine talks in depth about the revolutionary journey that the pharmaceutical industry is in today.By Shivani Mody.Trends and developments in generic formulations, APIs.Generics still drive the global pharma growth while representing a volume majority (~55 percent).There has been a tremendous rise in competition in the generics space as blockbusters come off the patent protection. Read More

 

Clariant said that it will increase the global price for selected pigments. The price increases, which come into effect for delivery as of 15th January 2018, will affect dioxazine violet and diarylide pigments:Prices for PV 23 (dioxazine violet) and PO 34 will be increased by 15 percent.Prices for PY 83 will increase by 14 percent, prices for PY 12, PY 13, PY 14, PY 174 and PY 176 will increase by 5 percent.The price increases are driven by higher raw material prices triggered by higher environmental, health and safety costs and lack of availability… Read More

 

The world will require over 40 percent more water by 2030. Are we ready for it?By Debarati Das: Factually, the earth is made up of 70 percent water. But a miniscule portion of this reserve, about 1 percent is available in the form of fresh water which can be used by humans. However, while this portion of water is in no way increasing, the demand for water is not decreasing either amidst rising population, soaring industrial activities and mounting agricultural needs. Read More

 

In an interview, Avijit Kumar Mitra, Director Marketing, Nalco Water (India), an Ecolab company, with Chemical Today Magazine  tells that the requirement for water treatment chemical will double in a decade and technologies will keep changing to keep up with the new demands presented to the industry.By Shivani Mody:Technology, innovation trends in water treatment chemicals. The innovation trends are towards overcoming challenges primarily in 3 areas, which are – reduce water usage in various applications, handle varied water qualities that are available and reliability of water supply.  Read More
12.26.17
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Reverse Osmosis: Water Treatment Process


Reverse Osmosis: Water Treatment Process

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water purification methodology that removes ions, molecules and other larger particles from drinking water using a semipermeable membrane. The process of removing salt from seawater or desalination is done by reverse osmosis.History of Reverse osmosis:The process of Reverse Osmosis by using semipermeable membrane was observed first in 1748 by a French clergyman and physicist Jean Antoine Nollet. Read More

 

Evonik Industries has invested in the startup HPNow ApS through its venture capital unit and now holds a minority stake in the company, which is headquartered in Copenhagen (Denmark).HPNow has developed a technology for producing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in a fully automatic system using water, air, and an electric current. The transaction took place in the context of a Series A round of financing. The parties have agreed not to disclose the amount of the investment. Read More

 

Quaker Chemical Corporation (KWR) said that it has recently acquired the remaining 45 percent ownership interest in its India joint venture, Quaker Chemical India Private Limited (QCIL), from its joint venture partner, Asianol Lubricants Private Limited. QCIL sells products to the steel and metalworking industries in India and has associates based in various locations around India. Quaker had been a joint venture partner in QCIL for 20 years. Read More

 

AkzoNobel NV has signed an agreement which will see its Deventer site in the Netherlands transformed into a chemistry and technology innovation hub. Set to be positioned as a key European centre for the most demanding chemistry and technology (chemtech), the Deventer open innovation centre is backed by a seven-year agreement with the municipality of Deventer and is being supported by the Restructuring Company Overijssel and the Province of Overijssel, who together are investing more than €25 million. Read More

12.22.17
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Interesting facts about Silver Nitrate


Interesting facts about Silver Nitrate

Silver nitrate is an inorganic chemical compound with formula AgNO3. Silver nitrate is basically silver salt, which has powerful antiseptic properties.  German Catholic Dominican friar Albertus Magnus, created silver nitrate in the 13th century. By dissolving the silver, he documented the nitric acid’s ability to separate gold and silver. Johann Shulze used silver nitrate for photography, for the first time in the 17th century. It is a colorless, odorless solid crystalline compound. Read more

 

Azelis has opened a new, state of the art, US CASE headquarters office in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The new 13,000 sqft office serves as both the CASE US headquarters and the GMZ, an Azelis Company, corporate office. CASE covers coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, inks, building and construction products. As the CASE market segment continues to grow for Azelis, this new office will house more than 40 Azelis/GMZ employees and was designed to accommodate continued growth plans. Read more

 

 
Formosa Plastics Corporation USA said that it will expand its production of polyvinyl chloride resin at its facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The production expansion will increase annual production capacity by 300 million pounds and is expected to start up in 2020. This continues the company’s long-term commitment to investing in US, providing good, wellpaying jobs in the communities. Read more

 

 
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) said that its world-scale ethane cracker at Cedar Bayou in Baytown, Texas has successfully achieved the major milestone of mechanical completion. The unit is now undergoing a series of rigorous commissioning activities, system checks and final certifications to ensure a safe and reliable start-up, and consistent, on-spec production. Read more
12.21.17
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Major facts on Cyanide


Major facts on Cyanide

The word cyanide attribute to a lone charged anion abided with single carbon atom and one nitrogen atom attached along with a triple bond, CN–. The utmost noxious form of cyanide is cyanide ions or hydrogen cyanide also known as free cyanide that comprises the cyanide anion itself. It is either in a gaseous or aqueous state. Though HCN is extremely soluble in water, the solubility of HCN reduces according with increase in the temperature and beneath exceedingly in saline environment. The HCN gas or the liquid are colorless and have the odor of bitter almonds, although not all individuals can detect the odor. Read more

 

BASF SE and Sinopec said that they will expand the production capacity of neopentyl glycol (NPG) at the state-of-the-art Verbund site, BASF-YPC Co Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture in Nanjing, China. The plant was established in 2015 with an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tonnes. Following the expansion, the annual capacity will be doubled to 80,000 metric tonnes. The expanded capacity will come on stream in 2020. NPG is a unique polyalcohol offering superior performance in many end-use applications such as powder coatings, textiles and construction due to its high chemical and thermal stability. Read more

 

R Mukundan, Chairman, CII Institute of Quality and Managing Director, Tata Chemicals Ltd, had an exclusive chat with Chemical Today Magazine where he spoke about how quality is the defining factor to attain global acceptance.  Our effort at CII has been to bring all the stakeholders, industry and the government on the same platform and chalk out the course for the national quality movement. The National Quality Summit has emerged as a platform to exchange views between large medium and small-scale industries. Read more

 

Maire Tecnimont SpA has executed a framework agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) for future commercialization of both parties’ technologies for the production of propylene derivatives chemicals starting from gas rich in methane feed-stock (the package technologies). The package technologies will combine with Maire Tecnimont’s “gas to propylene” technology, which is being developed jointly with Siluria Technologies Inc with MCC Technologies for the production of oxo alcohols, acrylic acid and acrylic ester. Read more
12.20.17
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Glycerol: Properties, Production and Uses


Glycerol: Properties, Production and Uses

Glycerol which is also known as glycerine, glycerin or propanetriol is a polyolcompound. The derivation of the gly- and glu- prefixes for glycerol and for sugarsis derived from a Greek word glukus which means sweet. It is a trihydroxy sugar alcohol which acts as an intermediate in carbohydrateand lipid metabolism. The formula of glycerol is C3H8O3. Glycerol is a colorless, odorless and viscous liquid which is sweet in taste and is non-toxic. Boiling point: 290 degree Celsius, melting point: 17.9 degree Celsius. Read more

 

Ineos Styrolution said that its Novodur Xspray grade has been selected by Samsung, for its new range of recently launched refrigerators and vacuum cleaners in Asia. Samsung approached Ineos Styrolution for an eco-friendly grade that offers excellent paint-ability, ease of processing and superior metallic appearance from high luminance spray. The existing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) grades available in the market require an additional primer treatment prior to the colour and clear coating process to improve the chemical resistance required for high luminance spray. Read more

 

Sabic said that it has started up its new polypropylene (PP) extrusion facility in Geleen, Netherlands. This new extrusion line adopts state-of-the-art process technology to produce Sabic PP products and the next generation PP copolymers. Underlines the company’s drive to provide advanced materials that can support customers developing new lightweight applications in industries such as packaging, appliances, automotive, healthcare and help them reduce energy consumption in their process manufacturing. Read more

 

AkzoNobel’s speciality chemicals business said that it is studying plans to expand production of high-purity vacuum salt at its Delfzijl site in Netherlands. The project would increase output at the facility by around 25 percent The ongoing study is due to be completed in the first half of 2018, with the aim of completing the project within three years. It represents the latest in a series of expansions designed to meet increasing European demand for high-purity vacuum salt. Read more

 

12.16.17
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Chemical compound Ester: Preparation, Properties, Structure and Occurrence


Chemical compound Ester: Preparation, Properties, Structure and Occurrence

Esters are compounds that belong to the organic functional group which has and also forms sweet smelling compounds. The formula for ester is generally denoted by RCOOR’, where R and R’ are alkyl groups or an aryl groups that are produced by the reaction of an alcohol and an acid. When it is heated along wth a hydroxide some esters decay to generate soap and glycerin it is known as saponification. Certain fats and oils are mixtures of distinct esters, such as stearin, palmitin and linolein, produced from the alcohol,glycerol and fatty acids. Natural ester occurs in organic acids in fruits and flowers that give a distinguishing odor. Read more

 

BASF SE and Toda Kogyo Corp (TODA) announced two significant steps to further enhance their collaboration. A strengthening of production capabilities both in US and Japan will help enable e-mobility and generate business opportunities for the two companies. BASF TODA Battery Materials LLC (BTBM), a joint venture between BASF and TODA, has now tripled its high nickel cathode active materials (CAMs) capacity at its Onoda site in Japan. BTBM was established as a BASF-majority-owned joint venture in 2015 to build up production capacity to meet customers’ needs in the rapidly evolving CAMs market. Read more

 

Albemarle Corporation (ALB) has signed a definitive agreement to sell its polyolefin catalysts and components business to W R Grace & Co (GRA) in a cash transaction valued at approximately $416 million. The organometallics and curatives portions of the performance catalysts solutions business will remain with Albemarle. As part of the transaction, Grace will assume the lease and operations at the product development centre in Baton Rouge, and operations at the Yeosu, South Korea site. Read more

 

Clariant said that it has released ColourForward 2019, the 13th edition of the annual colour forecasting guide for the plastics industry. In 2019, consumers can be expected to feel increasingly frustrated by complications and distractions that make it difficult to focus long enough to complete even important tasks. They’ll also feel like things that used to be predictable and dependable have gone out of control. Among these confusing and unsettling circumstances, Clariant trend-watchers predict a heightened awareness and appreciation for the unique creativity, intuition and artistry that make people human. Read more

 

 

12.14.17
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Distillation process of chemicals


Distillation process of chemicals

The process of distillation starts when a liquid is heated to boiling point. The liquid starts evaporate, by appearing in a vapor form. Distillation is expended to detach liquids from nonvolatile solids, as in the separation of alcoholic liquors from fermented materials, or in the separation of two or more liquids with distinct boiling points, as in the separation of gasoline, kerosene, and lubricating oil from crude oil. Further, industrial applications incorporate the processing of the chemical products that is as formaldehyde, phenol and the purification of seawater. Read more

 

Despite a series of political turmoil and wars in 1953, Korea has continued to witness prolonged economic growth over the years. Its economy has travelled a path of revival with the constant and robust development in the manufacturing industry. The economy of Korea mainly thrives on the development of the manufacturing industry. In the aftermath of the devastating war, chemical industry has contributed majorly towards rebuilding the economic structure of Korea. On the back of strong manufacturing and technology sector. Read more

 

 
A pharmaceutical excipient also referred as bulking agent, filler or diluent, is a natural or synthetic substance formulated with the active ingredient of a medication, included in a pharmaceutical dosage form to aid the manufacturing process, to protect, support or enhance stability, or for bioavailability or patient acceptability. They are also helpful in product identification and enhance the overall safety or functionality of the product during storage or use, according to a report by Future Market Insights. Read more

 

Honeywell (HON) released a new study showing industrial companies are not moving quickly to adopt cyber security measures to protect their data and operations, even as attacks have increased around the globe.  The survey – Putting Industrial Cyber Security at the Top of the CEO Agenda – was conducted by LNS Research and sponsored by Honeywell. It polled 130 strategic decision makers from industrial companies about their approach to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and their use of industrial cyber security technologies and practices. Read more