Sunlight might be used in the future to drive organic syntheses for pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, Timothy Noël of Eindhoven University of Technology told his audience at yesterday’s plenary lecture.

Chemistry is facing the biggest challenge in its history: To meet the needs of a growing population in a world of scarce resources and growing environmental problems chemistry has to reinvent itself to become a key solution provider for a sustainable future. The emerging concept of Sustainable Chemistry offers a new system thinking based approach to transform the more than 150-year-old chemical industry.

At this year’s Achema in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), Evonik presented its latest membrane product development Sepuran NG for natural gas processing.

Clariant introduced a number of environmentally friendly and hazard label-free products to the North American architectural paints market.

Bayer spin-off Covestro plans to shut down its MDI plant in Tarragona, Spain. The remaining assets shall, nevertheless, be retained as a chemical park and center for Polyurethane systems.

Fluid Components International (FCI) presents its ST100 Series Thermal Mass Air/Gas Flow Meter in a remote mountable configuration, well suited for applications in hazardous areas or hard-to-reach locations.

Though the demand for fertilizers in the devloping markets looks promising, the industry faced quite a few challenges in the Indian market, in the FY12-13. Read, how gas prices and subsidiaries could affect the future of India's fertilizer business...

Transfer pumps form a key part of any chemical plant. These pumps must operate reliably, often around the clock and handling a variety of corrosive or otherwise difficult materials. This article explains how to plan and carry out routine maintenance of centrifugal chemical pumps so as to avoid pump downtime and consequent lost production.

VDMA Symposium on ‘Technology for Confectionery Production and Packaging’ – Thirteen German manufacturers of confectionery processing and packaging machines presented their brand new technologies and solutions in on of the most exiting markets environments for pharma & food: India!

Inspections and turnarounds pose enormous challenges for plant operators and project engineers who have to aim for a short and safe shutdown — and yet cope at the same time with longer and longer inspection cycles, highly complex technology and ever increasing demands on safety. What direction is the turnaround business taking in these times of skills shortages and rising costs?