Merck plans to invest € 50 million in its Italian production site in Bari, southern Italy, in order to respond to the rising demand for biopharmaceuticals. The new production facility is to be commissioned in 2017 for the sterile filling and packaging of liquid drugs into syringes, vials and ampoules (fill & finish).

Air Products has entered into an agreement with Gulf Coast Ammonia (GCA) under which the US firm will build, own and operate a steam methane reformer to produce hydrogen, an air separation unit to supply nitrogen; and will own and operate a steam turbine generator to supply power to GCA’s new ammonia production facility.

Pharmaceutical production is becoming more digital and connected. Players who can deliver coherent, logical concepts will be part of the next major Industry 4.0 project. The five members of Excellence United have made great progress with their IoT Hub and have shown what it is already capable of. But this is just the beginning. In the interview, the five executive directors explained why. The strategic corporate alliance Excellence United presents its new Industry 4.0 concept, which sets new standards.

The expense involved in explosion-proofing bucket elevators can sometimes exceed the purchase price of the conveying system itself by up to a factor of three. So Poeth Solids Processing, based in Tegelen in the Netherlands, developed the cost-saving Z-Conveyor to eliminate the need for extra investment in Atex explosion-proofing.

Intertec is launching a range of tough field enclosures for housing remote I/O and other control and instrumentation electronics, featuring compact passive cooling to dramatically reduce costs of ownership.

Under the terms of the agreement, SCS members Ineos Styrolution, Total, Trinseo and Versalis (Eni) will carry out an in-depth evaluation of Pyrowave’s proprietary plastic-to-plastic chemical recycling technology. Pyrowave claims that this technology will enable Europe to meet its sustainability goals.

Merck’s new biotech development center will be set up in Switzerland and is expected to bridge the gap between research and manufacturing. With this facility, the company aims to make new medicines quickly available to patients.

Amidst reports of Mc Dermott going bankrupt, the company has plans to sell its Lummus Technology. One of the bidders for the technology is the joint partnership between The Chatterjee Group and Rhône Group which is willing to purchase the technology for 2.725 billion dollars.

With the incorporation of Haldor Topsoe’s technology, the new methanol facility in Russia is expected to produce 1.6 million tonnes of АА grade methanol annually. The plant is scheduled for completion in 2023.

A serious explosion in a Spanish chemical park in Tarragona killed two people on Tuesday. Eight other people were injured, according to Catalan Interior Minister Miquel Buch.