Atlas Copco acquires National Vacuum Equipment

Atlas Copco has agreed to acquire National Vacuum Equipment Inc., a leading local US manufacturer of industrial vacuum pumps and packages for mobile use on tanker trucks, said Gasworld.

National Vacuum Equipment Inc. is headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan, USA and has around 100 employees. “The acquisition will add to our vacuum solutions portfolio, allowing us to enter the currently untapped mobile vacuum market,’’ said Geert Follens, Business Area President Vacuum Technique.

The purchase price is not disclosed. National Vacuum will become part of the Industrial Vacuum Division, within the Vacuum Technique business area. The acquisition is expected to close during Q3.

As per MRC, supporting its goal of driving the decarbonization of hydrocarbon processes and the road to net zero emissions, Atlas Copco Gas and Process will be supplying CO2 compression equipment to one of Europe’s most ambitious renewable biofuels plant projects. Thus, the equipment will be used in an 820,000 tpy biofuels facility, located at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands (formerly known as the Pernis refinery). Shell announced plans for the facility earlier last fall.

Great ideas accelerate innovation. At Atlas Copco we have been turning industrial ideas into business-critical benefits since 1873. By listening to our customers and knowing their needs, we deliver value and innovate with the future in mind. In 2021, Atlas Copco had revenues of BSEK 111 and at year end about 43 000 employees.
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BASF and THOR GmbH are combining their expertise in non-halogenated flame retardant additives to provide customers with a comprehensive solution that will enhance the sustainability and performance for specific plastic compounds, as well as meet stringent fire safety requirements, said Chemeurope.

Flame retardancy is an essential element for plastic components or composites which are commonly used in transportation, construction, household, and industrial applications, as accidental heat and flame exposure can lead to serious damage and endanger lives. The growing demand from the global construction and automotive industry combined with stricter fire safety standards will significantly influence demand for sustainable flame retardant chemicals.

The experts at THOR and in plastic additives at BASF have collaborated for many years in developing sophisticated solutions to meet the demanding flame retardant specifications focusing on alternatives to halogen containing additives. Both parties are active members of the Phosphorus, Inorganic and Nitrogen Flame Retardants Association PINFA and work closely to deliver sustainable polymeric systems that withstand ignition and fire propagation during their service life.

The combined expertise in flame retardant additives provides customers and end-users with information highlighting the synergistic benefits of BASF’s halogen-free flame retardant Flamestab® with THOR’s phosphonates AFLAMMIT technologies, for polyolefins which is typically a challenging flame resistance application.

"A thorough and multidimensional assessment of an additive solution is essential to shorten the time to market. The closer our suggested formulations are to the requirements of the end-users, the shorter the development time and costs for our customers. At THOR, we work continuously on improving our flame retardants and their performance in the desired plastics compounds. Depending on the market needs, a huge variety of fire safety standards are available for testing our own developed flame retardant formulations. As a service, our project partners, such as BASF, provide us with newly formulated plastics films, molded or extruded specimens for evaluation of performance,” explains Armin Eckert, BU-Head of Performance Chemicals, THOR GmbH.

"Providing superior fire safety to a plastic part while maintaining other characteristics such as mechanical performance and light stability is a real challenge,” explains Dr. Achim Sties, Senior Vice President, Performance Chemicals Europe, BASF. “BASF technical experts are hard at work to provide solutions to meet our customers’ requirements and leverage our strong experience and network to respond with cost effective and sustainable technological solutions. Together with THOR, we focus on technical combinations that help shorten the journey for a formulator or a converter to reach their flame retardancy target and progress efficiently towards certification in a complex norm and testing environment."

As per MRC, BASF and Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd announced on Monday that they will build a major new production plant for 2-Ethylhexanoic Acid (2-EHAcid). The new facility will be located at the site of their existing joint venture, BASF Petronas Chemicals, in Kuantan, Malaysia. Construction is anticipated to start in the second quarter of 2015. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
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Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. рas developed “Tersus RN,” an inorganic thin-film coating liquid which possesses antibacterial/antivirus functions, envisioning its application for building materials for housing and buildings, said the company.

The Tersus Series, which uses Shin-Etsu Chemical’s own unique silicate as an ingredient, is a coating liquid that forms a transparent thin film of natural finish that does not interfere with the building materials’ design. The newly developed Tersus represents a new line-up in the series, and it has 2 kinds of nano particles as active ingredients, titania and silver, which can realize antivirus functions.

In the background leading to the development of this new product, there has been a rising of hygiene consciousness towards building materials in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. At an external testing laboratory test*1, it was verified that on the surfaces where these products were applied, there was a high antivirus function exhibiting a strong inhibitory effect against the novel corona virus (SARS-COV-2), of 99.94% (R=3.2).

In addition, with regard to the general antibacterial/antivirus performance, Shin-Etsu has also obtained the certification of The Society of International sustaining growth for Antimicrobial Articles (SIAA).

This product is a water-based coating liquid and there is no worry about offensive odors or adverse effects on the human body at the time of application operation, which in the case with an organic-solvent-base becomes an issue.

This product will meet your expectations by realizing a highly hygienic environment, not only for use in environments where large numbers of unspecified people gather, such as offices, hospitals, public facilities, nursing facilities, automobiles and railway cars, but also for use as a coating liquid for various residential building materials.

We remind, on 16 Feb 2022, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd announced plans to invest over $695 M to expand its silicone manufacturing plants across Japan to meet a very strong demand for advanced functional products. According to the company, the new plant investments will expand the manufacturing capacity of "highly diversified" kinds of silicone resins, fluids, and rubber end products by 2025. The expansion project will start with Shin-Etsu's main facility, the Gunma Complex in Gunma Prefecture, and will be followed by two other facilities in Naoetsu, Niigata Prefecture, and Takefu, Fukui Prefecture.
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Shell and Dow have started up an experimental unit to electrically heat steam cracker furnaces at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam, The Netherlands, said Hudrocarbonprocessing.

This represents a key milestone in the companies’ joint technology program to electrify steam cracking furnaces, bringing the companies one step closer to decarbonizing one of the most carbon intensive aspects of petrochemical manufacturing.

Over the next year, the experimental unit will be used to test a theoretical electrification model developed for retrofitting today’s gas-fired steam cracker furnaces. Data generated by the unit will be used to validate the model and allow the electrification program to advance to the next phase; the design and construction of a multi-megawatt pilot plant, with potential start-up in 2025, subject to investment support.

Thomas Casparie, Senior Vice President of Shell’s Chemicals and Products business in Europe, said “Today, we have taken a great step forward in helping to decarbonize one of the central processes of our industry, while also supporting Shell’s goal to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. I look forward to the results of the experimental unit and to continue this vital collaboration with Dow."

"This milestone demonstrates that low carbon emissions manufacturing technologies are within reach,” said Keith Cleason, Vice President Dow Olefins, Aromatics and Alternatives business. “The collaboration with Shell has the potential to reshape the way our industry manufactures products in future decades."

As the energy grid becomes increasingly renewables led, using renewable electricity to heat steam cracker furnaces could become one of the routes to decarbonize the chemicals industry. E-cracking furnaces operated using renewable electricity have the potential to reduce 90% of the scope 1 emissions at economically competitive costs with conventional crackers.

Last year, the program was awarded EUR3.5 MM (USD4.2 MM) in funding from the Dutch Government and incorporated The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT). The multi-company collaboration brings technical expertise and a common commitment to a low carbon-future. Furthermore, the collaboration aims to support emission reductions required to meet Shell and Dow’s targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

As per MRC, Shell is building larger vessels that can carry more carbon dioxide over longer distances as part of the company's plans to expand its carbon capture storage (CCS) business globally. The ability to ship large volumes of CO2 from industrial sites to offshore CCS hubs is critical in improving the economies of scale for these projects. CCS is aimed at decarbonising heavy industries such as refining, cement and steel.
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China is expected to register the highest xylene capacity additions in Asia, contributing around 66% of the region’s capacity additions through 2026, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, said Globaldata.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Xylene Industry Installed Capacity and Capital Expenditure (CapEx) Forecast by Region and Countries including details of All Active Plants, Planned and Announced Projects, 2022-2026’, reveals that China leads with the largest capacity additions of 21.83 million tons per annum (mtpa) from 13 planned and announced projects.

Sudarshini Ennelli, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, says: “In China, the main capacity addition will be from a planned project, Zhejiang Petrochemical Daishan Xylene Plant 2, which has a capacity of 4.80 mtpa. It is expected to commence production in 2022."

ShengHong Holding Group Lianyungang Xylene Plant will be the second-highest contributor with 2.8 mtpa capacity additions by 2026. The plant is expected to commence operations in 2022.

Ennelli concludes: “Petrochina Pdvsa Guandong Petrochemical Jieyang Xylene Plant will be the third-highest contributor in terms of capacity additions in the country with a capacity of 2.6 mtpa. The plant is expected to commence production of xylene in 2022."

As per MRC, Lummus Technology, a global provider of process technologies and value-driven energy solutions, announced the commissioning and startup of a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at Shandong Ruize Chemical Technology Co., Ltd.'s complex in Zibo City, Shandong Province, China.
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