Chemical Engineering January 2015 - 64

Economic Indicators
Business news
Plant watch
Bayer MaterialScience inaugurates
TDI plant in Dormagen
december 9, 2014 - at its site in dormagen,
germany, Bayer materialscience ag (Leverkusen,
germany; www.materialscience.
bayer.de) has started up a new production
plant for toluene diisocyanate (tdi). Valued
at around €250 million, the new plant was
under construction for 30 months, and replaces
a smaller tdi production unit.
Air Liquide will construct a new
air-separation unit in Port Neches
december 9, 2014 - air Liquide (Paris,
France; www.airliquide.com) broke ground
for a new air-separation unit (asU) that will
produce oxygen (o2), nitrogen (n2) and
argon (ar) in Port neches, tex. the new asU
will produce 2,400 metric tons (m.t.) per
day of o2 and 2,600 m.t./d of n2, tripling o2
production capacity and doubling n2 production
capacity at the Port neches facility.
commercial operations are expected to
begin by the end of 2015.
BASF starts up emulsion
polymers plant in Freeport
december 8, 2014 - BasF se (Ludwigshafen,
germany; www.basf.com) began
operations at a new emulsion polymers
plant at its integrated site in Freeport, tex.
the acrylic emulsion polymers manufactured
at this plant are used for architectural
coatings, construction chemicals and
adhesives, as well as applications in the
paper-chemicals industry. construction of
the plant began in February 2013.
Yara to build new nitric acid plant,
increase ammonium nitrate capacity
december 5, 2014 - Yara international asa
(oslo, norway; www.yara.com) will invest
$220 million to expand production capacity
of technical ammonium nitrate (tan). the
investment includes construction of a new
nitric acid plant, which replaces an existing
plant. the total tan capacity after the upgrade
will be approximately 450,000 m.t./yr.
Airgas to construct new liquidhydrogen
plant in Kentucky
december 4, 2014 - airgas, inc. (radnor,
Pa.; www.airgas.com) has announced
plans to build a new liquid-hydrogen plant
in calvert city, Ky. the new facility is targeted
to be onstream in the summer of 2016 and
will complement the company's nearby
asU, also slated for a 2016 startup.
Solvay boosts production capacity for
polyaryletherketone resin in India
december 3, 2014 - solvay s.a. (Brussels,
Belgium; www.solvay.com) is increasing
production capacity of polyaryletherketone
resin by 25% at its plant in Panoli, gujarat, india
to support demand for its ultra-high-performance
polymers. Healthcare, electronics
and energy are among the key markets for
these polymers.
Showa Denko and UOP open
high-silica zeolite plant in Japan
december 3, 2014 - Union showa (UsKK),
a joint venture (JV) between showa denko
K.K. (sdK; tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) and
UoP LLc (des Plaines, ill.; www.uop.com)
has completed the construction of a new
high-silica zeolite plant at sdK's Higashinagahara
Plant in aizu-Wakamatsu city,
Fukushima, Japan. High-silica zeolite is an
adsorbent used for the removal of volatile
organic compounds (Vocs).
Tecnimont awarded EPC contract
for Illinois fertilizer plant
december 1, 2014 - maire tecnimont s.p.a.
(milan, italy; www.mairetecnimont.com)
was awarded a $1.5-billion engineering,
procurement and construction (ePc) contract
by cronus chemicals,LLc to build an
ammonia and urea plant in tuscola, ill. the
plant will have a production capacity of
2,200 m.t./d of ammonia and 3,850 m.t./d
of urea, as well as the equipment necessary
to produce diesel exhaust fluid.
Verdezyne to produce bio-based diacids
at newly announced Malaysian facility
november 20, 2014 - Verdezyne inc. (carlsbad,
calif.; www.verdezyne.com) will build
a commercial-scale renewable chemicals
plant in nusajaya, malaysia. construction
will commence in 2015. the plant is designed
to produce, from plant-based feedstock,
13,600 m.t./yr of bio-based diacids,
including dodecanedioc acid (ddda), and
is said to be the world's first plant for the biobased
production of ddda.
Dow plans polyethylene capacity
expansion in Argentina
november 14, 2014 - starting in 2015, the
dow chemical company (midland, mich.;
www.dow.com) plans to expand capacity
at its four polyethylene (Pe) production
units located in Bahia Blanca, argentina. the
project will upgrade dow's low-density, gasphase,
slurry and solution Pe units at the site.
Mergers and acquisitions
Solvay to acquire Brazilian specialtyesters
manufacturer Dhaymers
december 9, 2014 - solvay s.a. is acquiring
dhaymers (www.dhaymers.com.br), a
Brazilian manufacturer of specialty esters.
dhaymers' specialty esters are used in skincare
products, mining emulsions and lubricants
for the metal-working industry.
Indorama to acquire manufacturing
operations from Performance Fibers Asia
december 8, 2014 - indorama Ventures
Public co. (Bangkok, thailand; www.indorama.net)
has acquired the asian manufacturing
operations of Performance Fibers (PF)
asia, a producer of polyester tire-cord (Ptc)
fabric. PF asia has plants located in Kaiping
city, china that produce 41,000 m.t./yr of
Ptc fabric and 48,000 m.t./yr of Ptc yarn.
Vertellus acquires sodium
borohydride business from Dow
december 5, 2014 - Vertellus (indianapolis,
ind.; www.vertellus.com) has acquired
dow's sodium borohydride (sBH) business.
sBH is used in the synthesis of fine chemicals,
such as pharmaceutical ingredients
and agrochemicals. the transaction is expected
to close in the first quarter of 2015.
Lubrizol creates Oilfield Solutions
segment with Weatherford acquisitions
december 1, 2014 - the Lubrizol corp.
(Wickliffe, ohio; www.lubrizol.com) has
acquired the oilfield-chemicals and drillingfluids
businesses from oilfield services company
Weatherford (Houston; www.weatherford.com)
for $825 million. the acquired
businesses will form a new segment within
Lubrizol, called oilfield solutions.
Synalloy acquires carbon-pipe
distributor Specialty Pipe & Tube
november 25, 2014 - synalloy corp.
(spartanburg, s.c.; www.synalloy.com)
has acquired specialty Pipe & tube, inc.,
a distributor of seamless carbon pipe. the
transaction is valued at $31.5 million.
BASF divests omega-3 production plant
in Norway to Marine Ingredients
november 24, 2014 - BasF se plans to sell
its manufacturing facility for omega-3 oils
in Brattvåg, norway to marine ingredients, a
manufacturer of marine-based ingredients
and customized products.the transaction is
expected to close in early 2015.
■
Mary Page Bailey
For additional news as it develops, please visit www.chemengonline.com
January 2015; VOL. 122; NO. 1
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ChemiCal engineering www.Chemengonline.Com January 2015 63

http://www.solvay.com http://www.dhaymers.com.br http://www.materialscience http://www.bayer.de http://www.indora http://www.ma.net http://www.sdk.co.jp http://www.airliquide.com http://www.uop.com http://www.vertellus.com http://www.mairetecnimont.com http://www.basf.com http://www.lubrizol.com http://www.weath http://www.erford.com http://www.verdezyne.com http://www.yara.com http://www.synalloy.com http://www.airgas.com http://www.dow.com http://www.chemengonline.com http://www.Chemengonline.Com

Chemical Engineering January 2015

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