Digitalization and Industry 4.0 have arrived in the process industry — a lot more quickly and with far greater penetration than some would have believed of this generally conservative, safety-minded sector. It was precisely the process automation experts for the large chemical companies who recognized the potential opportunities at an early stage, and drove forward the required developments, particularly the necessary standardization. Siemens is amongst the pace-setters on the supplier side. In the course of this progression, the supplier of automation and electrification engineering has become a software giant able to offer its customers a digital solution for practically every challenge.

BASF has started up a new production plant for pearlisers, opacifiers, and specialty blends in the USA. The move is expected to increase the company’s global capacity to meet the increasing demand for these specialty ingredients.

BASF will increase its production capacities for the chemical intermediate 1,4-butanediol (BDO) by 10 % at its US-site in Geismar/Louisiana as of 2016. The company will then have a global capacity of BDO of 670,000 metric tons per year.

To convert hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils to more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and other products refineries use mostly Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC). By establishing a new testing and research laboratory at the hte site in Heidelberg, Germany BASF strengthens its Refining Catalysts business.

BASF has recently announced the commercial launch of Fourtune, a new Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) catalyst product for gasoil feedstock. The new FCC is the latest product based on BASF’s Multiple Framework Topology (MFT) technology.

In many chemical industry plants, a safety controller ensures the required level of safety — in the event of danger, it switches off. In order to do justice to this task, it decides, like a watchman, which signals from the field level may be forwarded to higher-level systems and which not. Field device diagnostics for maintenance and optimization have so far been left out of the scope. For the first time, a solution jointly developed by Endress+Hauser and Hima also grants access to advanced diagnostics from instruments applied in safety loops.

BASF has broken ground on the second phase of its Innovation Campus Asia Pacific at its Pudong site in Shanghai, China. The €90 million expansion consists of an additional regional research and development (R&D) building and auxiliary facilities and it will be completed by the end of 2015.

Air Liquide and BASF have recently signed three new long-term contracts in the Antwerp basin (Belgium). Leveraging on five existing onsite production plants in the Antwerp basin, the industrial gases specialist has entered into a new 15-year agreement to renew its airgas supply to existing installations and provide additional oxygen to a new Ethylene Oxide plant to be built by BASF.

The new platform – recichain has been introduced in British Columbia, Canada with an aim to enhance the circularity of plastics in the supply chain. Sorting, traceability and transparency of plastics throughout the value chain will also be improved via this platform.

BASF and Domo Chemicals have successfully completed the acquisition of Solvay’s Performance Polyamides business. Under the agreement, Domo Chemicals has acquired Solvay's performance polyamides production sites in France while BASF has acquired all the Performance Polyamides activities of Solvay except those acquired by Domo Chemicals.