Chemical Processing

Drone photo of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 4, 2023.
Safety
50-Car Train Derailment Causes Big Fire, Evacuations
Ohio's governor activated the National Guard.
Featured
Battery
Chemical Processing
Manufacturing Process Produces Cheaper Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries
Instead of continuously stirring cathode materials with chemicals in a reactor, their hydrothermal synthesis approach crystalizes the cathode.
December 6, 2022
Basf
Chemical Processing
BASF Bringing Specialty Chemical Production to U.S.
The expansion will retain more than 1,000 existing jobs at a Louisiana facility.
August 5, 2022
The implementation of the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) capacity increase program for production facilities at BASF’s Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana, is progressing on schedule.
Operations
BASF Invests $780M in U.S. Chemical Plant Expansion
The factory will make a vital component in polyurethanes.
July 19, 2022
For the chemical industry, measuring and controlling moisture content is critical to ensure product quality and efficient production.
Chemical Processing
3 Ways Chemical Processors Can Benefit from NIR Technology
NIR moisture measurement facilitates more efficient labor, higher quality and better pricing.
June 28, 2022
Conviction Justice I Stock 1346156711 626bf41b8374e
Chemical Processing
Man Admits Selling Unregistered Chemicals to Fight COVID-19
Customers included the U.S. Marshals Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
June 10, 2022
Top Headlines
Roundup Ap
Jury Awards $332 Million to Man in Monsanto Case
November 3, 2023
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan speaks at the University of Maryland, May 11, 2023, in College Park, Md. The Biden administration on Wednesday increased the amount of biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supplies over the next three years, but held production totals steady for corn-based ethanol, disappointing the biofuel industry and farm advocates. Regan said the final rule would reduce U.S. reliance on oil and support continued growth of biofuels that help combat global warming.
EPA Boosts Biofuel Requirements
June 22, 2023
Containers of Roundup sit on a store shelf on Feb. 24, 2019, in San Francisco. Two companies that sell top brands of household weedkiller will pay nearly $7 million for allegedly making false and misleading claims regarding the safety of their products as part of a settlement with the New York Attorney General's office on Thursday, June 15, 2023.
Bayer Owes $6.9M Over Weed Killer Advertising
June 16, 2023
Raman spectroscopy can be used to predict the different chemical compounds that make up the sample.
Simplifying Oil and Gas Predictive Modeling
January 30, 2023
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December 10, 2024
Endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, Gautier, Miss., Nov. 27, 2012.
Laws & Regulations
Wildlife Officials Reverse Course on Pesticide
Chemical manufacturers vowed to change product labels so the highly toxic pesticide is used more carefully.
March 9, 2022
Hydrite
Chemical Processing
Hydrite Receives State of Iowa Incentives for Waterloo Expansion
The project represents a $21 million capital investment over the next three years.
March 3, 2022
Rice University graduate student M.A.S.R. Saadi coats a compound of sulfur and selenium onto steel to test its ability to protect the surface from biotic and abiotic contaminants.
Chemical Processing
Anti-Corrosion Coating Sets New Benchmark
Flexible, self-healing material protects steel from the elements.
October 20, 2021
Professor of food science and human nutrition Yong-Su Jin led a team that developed a methodology for efficiently converting the hemicellulose in switchgrass into high-value bioproducts using an engineered yeast and the acetate and xylose from the plants’ cell walls.
Chemical Processing
Bioprocess Converts Plant Materials into Valuable Chemicals
Lignocellulose, the woody material that gives plant cells their structure, is the most abundant raw material on Earth.
August 18, 2021
A new one-step method creates a liquid-proof, more buoyant cotton fabric for life jackets.
Chemical Processing
One Step Makes Cotton Liquid-Proof, More Buoyant
The tech is ideal for life jackets.
July 16, 2021
In the photo, additive is blended into heavy crude oil in this step of the SwRI-developed “EZ Flow” to treat heavy crude oils.
Chemical Processing
New Technique Supports Pipeline Transport of Heavy Crude Oils
Treated heavy crude oil can be moved great distances without heating the pipeline or adding large amounts of chemical or diluent.
July 16, 2021
Eloisa Vendemiatti, a postdoctoral researcher at WVU, and Vagner Benedito, associate professor of biochemical genetics, observe tomato plants at the WVU Greenhouse. They're working to develop an insecticide-resistant trait to the domesticated tomato.
Chemical Processing
Researchers Trying to Develop Insecticide-Resistant Tomato
One West Virginia University researcher is confident he will be able to develop a tomato that requires little to no pesticides.
June 28, 2021
Flames and smoke are seen from an explosion at a chemical plant in Rockton, Ill., Monday, June 14, 2021.
Safety
Foam Brings Chemical Plant Fire 'Under Control'
The explosion and fire forced the evacuation of 1,000 residents.
June 16, 2021
Flames and smoke are seen from an explosion at a chemical plant in Rockton, Ill., Monday, June 14, 2021.
Safety
Explosion Rocks Illinois Plant, May Burn for Days
70 employees were evacuated.
June 15, 2021
This photo provided by Sri Lankan Air Force shows the sinking MV X-Press Pearl at Kapungoda where it is anchored off Colombo port, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Salvage experts were attempting to tow the fire-stricken container ship that had been loaded with chemicals into the deep sea as the vessel started to sink Wednesday. Water submerged the MV X-Press Pearl's quarterdeck a day after firefighters extinguished a blaze that had been burning for 12 days.
Supply Chain
Data Recovered from Sinking Ship
The fire has destroyed most of the ship’s cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals.
June 7, 2021
I Stock 476738700
Chemical Processing
San Diego Processing Firm Pleads Guilty to Hazardous Waste Violations
The company improperly disposed of drums containing ethanol.
June 4, 2021
A Sri Lankan navy soldier clad in a protective suit walks on the mounds of debris that washed ashore from the burning Singaporean ship MV X-Press Pearl which is anchored off Colombo port at Kapungoda, out skirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, May 27, 2021.
Supply Chain
Police Investigate Sri Lanka Ship Fire
The government seeks to take legal action against the vessel's owners after the incident caused severe marine pollution.
June 1, 2021
In this photo provided by Sri Lanka Air Force, smoke rises from the container vessel MV X-Press Pearl engulfed in flames off Colombo port, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 25, 2021. An explosion occurred Tuesday on a ship anchored off Sri Lanka's capital on which a fire had been burning for several days, prompting the evacuation of all crew members, officials said.
Supply Chain
Ship Fire Rages for 6th Day
Some of the fallen containers containing chemicals are believed to have sunk.
May 26, 2021
N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, left, elbow-bumps with Martin Meeson, CEO of Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, Holly Springs, N.C., March 18, 2021.
Chemical Processing
Biotech Firm to Build $2B Vaccine Plant
The facility is billed as the largest end-to-end biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in North America.
March 19, 2021