Not much is possible without catalysts: More than 80 % of all chemically manufactured products undergo a catalytic step during their production. The active material is usually platinum or another precious metal, so production is correspondingly expensive and requires several steps. Physicists at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) have now filed a patent application for a process that produces highly active and long-term stable catalyst material in a single step.

High-performance pumps for challenging applications in solar systems — When it comes to using solar energy, new heat transfer media are in high demand. Among the most promising candidates are in fact molten salts. But the handling of these new thermal medias quickly proves more difficult than it appears...

Haldor Topsoe has plans to build a 10 kg/hour methanol plant to demonstrate the company’s electrified and extremely compact e SMR Methanol technology for cost-competitive production of sustainable methanol from biogas.

How do you survive as a German machine builder for over a century and a half? “There are two essential ingredients: innovation and quality,” says Stephan Brand, Vice President Marketing & Product Management at Aerzen. He believes that the chemicals market is a particularly challenging industry.

With a massive 21 million dollar (£16.7 million) investment, Tata Chemicals Europe has plans to build a Carbon Capture and Utilisation Plant in the United Kingdom. The facility aims to reduce the firm’s carbon emissions and also ensure a sustainable supply of carbon dioxide.

The new facility is expected to expand Sasol’s current alkoxylation capability to approximately 150 kilo tonnes per annum which will more than double its capacity in the Asian region. It is also the firm’s largest expansion project in China.

The 750,000 tonne plant is expected to be built in Marl, Germany and will support customer ambitions as well as secure the supply of raw materials to the Ineos plants in Gladbeck and Antwerp.

BASF and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (“Sinopec”) have completed a joint feasibility study and taken the next steps in the establishment of a world-scale isononanol (INA) plant in Maoming, Guangdong/China.

Petronas and Evonik Industries signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to jointly embark on the development of production facilities of specialty chemicals within Petronas’ Refinery & Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, Johor/Malaysia.

Chemicals company Kemira and process technology, automation and services company Valmet, have signed a partnership agreement in Europe for collaboration in the water and sludge treatment customer applications. The agreement aims at combining chemistry and smart process optimization expertise in the municipal and industrial water treatment space with analyzer and measurement technology know-how as well as on-site service network.