Celanese concluded the sale of its atmospheric (vinyl and acrylics) emulsions unit in La Canonja, Spain. The Tarragona-based petrochemical company IQOXE is acquiring the operation The company is specialized in the production of ethylene oxide, glycols and ethylene oxide derivatives. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Specialty chemical producer Clariant believes that it is now on equal footing again with its competitors after a series of painful cutbacks. The Clariant Excellence Initiative, launched in 2009, forms the nucleus of an improvement process which extends to all areas of the corporation starting with production. PROCESS spoke with Dr. Michael Riedel, who is in charge of the Excellence Initiative, about the challenges created by the change process.

More from less — that was the slogan of the More project, whose goal was the definition of real-time indicators for more resource efficiency in the process. But how to monitor the complex production processes of a cracker? The two consortium participants Ineos and S-Pact developed a ready-to-use feed stream analyser based on Raman Spectroscopy. A real success story paid off in cash.

With its pilot plant in Duisburg/Germany ThyssenKrupp builds a bridge between coke plants and Christmas baking. Because the new plant uses a newly developed process, that converts process gases into the baking powder ammonium bicarbonate.

Construction Kits for LPG production — Liquefied gas could become the fuel of the future — but its handling, storage and liquefaction demands elaborate process plant. Now, gas specialist Linde introduces a modular concept for LNG liquefaction in small and medium size. Their vision: The liquefaction toolbox for plan engineers …

Feige Filling together with Haver & Boecker and Newtec Bag Palletizing will display complete value-added systems and thus play a decisive role in shaping the future of the market. The Feige Integra 84 is a powerful machine that meets all requirements for modern, fully automatic and calibrated high-performance filling.

Akzo Nobel named a group of 10 start-ups and chemical researchers as winners of the 2018 edition of the Specialty Chemicals' Imagine Chemistry challenge. Imagine Chemistry was launched to help solve real-life chemistry-related challenges and uncover sustainable business opportunities. The 2018 edition generated 150 ideas from startups, scale-ups, scientists and others.

Marico Limited has executed documents to acquire Set Wet, Livon, Zatak and certain other Personal Care brands currently owned by Reckitt Benckiser (RB). RB had acquired these brands from Paras Pharmaceuticals in a deal completed during April 2011.

In order to survive in worldwide competition, firms must optimise their production processes. Necessary for this are not only networked digitisation and a comprehensive information and telecommunications (ITC) infrastructure, but also intelligent robot solutions.

Views of Managing Director, Process Plant Equipment and Food Processing & Packaging Machinery, VDMA, Richard Clemens – India is a diverse country with interesting food culture, and this feature opens doors for food processing machine manufactures from across the world. Acknowledging the Indian mindset, numerous German companies have been working in India in this field. Alternatively, ‘Made in Germany’ technology is well-accepted by Indian buyers. Here is Clemens’ take on the future of the food processing industry in India.