of the coatings and paints industry in Saudi Arabia.
Green Biologics
Signs Deal for Iowa
Demonstration Plant with
Easy Energy Systems
Green Biologics Limited, a UK-based industrial biotechnology company, with pilot
scale facilities and offices in Columbus, OH,
has announced a collaboration and planned
investment in facilities with Easy Energy
Systems Inc. The collaboration will result in
the modification of Easy Energy’s ethanol
demonstration plant in Emmetsburg, IA to
produce renewable n-butanol and acetone.
In mid-2012 GBL successfully produced
butanol and acetone from corn mash at the
Emmetsburg facility in Iowa at a 40,000 liter fermentation scale.
“We ran three separate batches in July
2012 which matched results in both total
solvent production and n-butanol yields
that were achieved in our UK laboratories and at our Columbus, Ohio pilot facility,” said Sean Sutcliffe, CEO of Green
Biologics “From these demonstration
runs we have validated fermentation performance at scale meeting our commercial targets.”
Huntsman Corp. to Acquire
Oxid
Huntsman Corporation has signed
a definitive agreement to acquire the
business of Oxid L.P., a privately-held
manufacturer and marketer of specialty
urethane polyols based in Houston, TX.
The financial terms of the agreement
were not disclosed.
Oxid’s polyols are a key component
in the production of energy saving polyurethane insulation products that are
used in residential and commercial construction. The polyols are combined with
methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI)
– in which Huntsman’s Polyurethanes
division is a leading global producer –
to create polyurethane foam insulation
for walls, roofs, refrigerators and many
other applications.
Oxid markets its diverse product line
of specialty polyols under the trademark
Terol and distributes products worldwide
from its manufacturing facility in Houston.
Elevance-Wilmar JV
Produces Renewable
Performance Specialty
Chemicals
Wilmar International Limited, one
of Asia’s leading agribusinesses, and
Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc., a specialty chemicals company, have begun
shipping commercial products, including novel specialty chemicals, to customers from their first world-scale joint
venture biorefinery, located in Gresik,
Indonesia. The biorefinery is the first
based on Elevance’s proprietary metathesis technology.
The commercial-scale manufacturing
facility produces novel specialty chemi-
cals, including multifunctional esters such
as 9-decenoic methyl ester, a unique dis-
tribution of bio-based alpha and internal
olefins including decene and a premium
mixture of oleochemicals. It has a capac-
ity of 180kMT (approximately 400 mil-
lion pounds) with the ability to expand
up to 360kMT (approximately 800 mil-
lion pounds) of products.
Clariant Signs Ethylene
Supply Contract with OMV
Clariant has signed a long-term supply
contract with OMV. From 2015, the
Austrian oil and gas company will supply Clariant’s site in Gendorf, Germany
with ethylene. This agreement will enable Clariant to source most of its requirements for this important basic
chemical in southern Bavaria, according
to the company.
The Clariant plant in Gendorf is part
of the Industrial and Consumer Specialties
(ICS) Business Unit and with approximately 700 employees, is the Business
Unit’s largest production site. The specialty chemicals company produces on
the site ethylene oxide, for which ethylene
is a major raw material. Ethylene oxide
is used to manufacture more than 500
different products on the site for use in a
variety of applications such as lubricants
or construction chemicals. CW
44 | Coatings World
www.coatingsworld.com
August 2013
