Technip FMC has signed the technology agreement with Meghmani Finechem which aims to produce epichlorohydrin from renewable feedstock at its plant in India. With this move, the Indian firm will become the first to manufacture epichlorohydrin in the Asian country.

Mc Dermott International has been awarded a technology contract for a grassroots alpha-methylstyrene recovery unit in Ningbo, China. The 10,000 MTA facility is expected to use the AMS technology to recover specialty chemicals for niche market sale.

Under the smart Verbund project, BASF has begun to construct its maiden units which will produce engineering plastics and TPU. The site will comprise the latest technologies as well as highest safety and sustainability standards and falls under the firm’s 10-billion-dollar investment project.

Honeywell’s C3 Oleflex technology which converts propane to propylene will be used by Zibo Qixiang Tengda Chemical Co. (QTXD) in order to meet the growing demand of plastic in China.

The automatically cleanable ‘Easy Clean flow’ magnet from Goudsmit Magnetics of Waalre recently underwent a redesign. This magnetic separator removes metal particles and weakly magnetic stainless steel particles from powders as fine as 30 µm in the food, chemical, ceramic and plastic industries.

Nexam Chemical has plans to double the capacity of its Scotland production facility and also intends to make improvements at its Lomma production unit in Sweden. Both the projects are expected to be completed in 2020.

The European Responsible Care Award is a recognition for the chemical industry’s work to enhance safe chemicals management and achieve performance excellence. This year’s winners were announced during Cefic’s annual Chemical Convention in Helsinki. Among the winners was Kemira, for utilizing recycled by-products as a raw material in drinking water and wastewater treatment products.

At Formnext, 3M is showcasing the first 3D printed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). This solutions is to open up new possibilities for industrial additive manufacturing.

Potentially explosive atmospheres impose strict requirements. Solenoid valves used in these areas must be exceptionally robust and reliable, adaptable to different areas of application and, of course, must conform to the corresponding approvals and directives. With this in mind, the fluid control specialist Bürkert has optimised its diverse programme of modular solenoid valves to meet current explosion protection requirements.

Wacker Chemie's new silicon-metal production plant officially went on stream at the Holla site in Norway, following two and a half years of construction. The new furnace is one of the largest of its kind in the world and increases the Holla site’s total capacity by more than 40 %.