New to our stock this week: Stokes Tornado mills, Torit dust collector, King slat counter, Stokes tablet press, PD8 capsule fillers, Quadro comil and more. Call us or email us today for a same-day quote!

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Latest plastics equipment to come on the lot. Gloucester blown film lines & nip roll assembly, Johnson Extruder, Bellmark Printers, Cumberland pelletizer and more:

Henschel high intensity mixers and more! Call us or email us for an immediate quote.

Biofuels can significantly reduce global dependence on oil, according to a new Worldwatch Institute report. This says that athough oil still accounts for more than 96 per cent of transport fuel use, biofuel production has doubled since 2001 and is poised for even stronger growth as the industry responds to higher fuel prices and supportive government policies.

Source: peopleplanet.net

Last year, world biofuel production surpassed 670,000 barrels per day, the equivalent of about 1 per cent of the global transport fuel market. “Coordinated action to expand biofuel markets and advance new technologies could relieve pressure on oil prices while strengthening agricultural economies and reducing climate-altering emissions,” says Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin.

The new report, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV), is a comprehensive assessment of the opportunities and risks associated with the large-scale international development of biofuels. It includes information from existing country studies on biofuel use in Brazil, China, Germany, India, and Tanzania.

Brazil is the world’s biofuel leader, with half of its sugar cane crop providing more than 40 per cent of its non-diesel transport fuel. In the United States, where 15 per cent of the corn crop provides about 2 per cent of the non-diesel transport fuel, ethanol production is growing even more rapidly.

The report says that this surging growth may allow the United States to overtake Brazil as the world’s biofuel leader this year. Both countries are now estimated to be producing ethanol at less than the current cost of gasoline.

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Biodiesel Equipment — Bishopric Products mix tanks. Call us today and get an immediate quote on one of these mix tanks.

Lyondell Chemical Company Announces Sale of Inorganic Chemicals Business to National Titanium Dioxide Company Ltd.
February 26, 2007

Source: ChemPoint.com

HOUSTON, February 26, 2007 — Lyondell Chemical Company and the National Titanium Dioxide Company Ltd. (Cristal), today announced that they have signed an agreement for a proposed sale by Lyondell of its worldwide inorganic chemicals business to Cristal in a transaction valued at approximately $1.2 billion, including the assumption of certain liabilities directly related to the business. Cristal is a global producer of titanium dioxide exporting to more than 70 countries. Lyondell stated that the transaction would include a cash payment of $1.05 billion, and estimated its after-tax proceeds at $975 million.

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Chemical/Specialty Chemical Equipment: Pfaudler reactors, Baeuerle & Morris reactors, Atlas heat exchangers, Niles tanks, Doyle & Roth heat exchangers, and Eriez screeners — just arrived and ready to ship!

Here is a list of Mueller mix tanks, with a Litteford mixer thrown in as well. These machines arrived at our warehouse in the last two weeks:

If you click on a item number, you will be taken to that machine’s page on our website to see multiple photographs and complete specifications.

API Manufacturing & Management Practices

Source: Contract Pharma

By Cliff R. King, Ph.D.

Some general managers may think they need only an accountant and an attorney to run a business, but if you have risen through the technical ranks, you know a lot more insight is required to successfully manage an API facility. Sure, accounting and legal services are two very important items in your toolbox. Both functions tend to operate in a conservative fashion and serve to mitigate or limit risk. However, businesses do not tend to grow without taking risks. General Patton was quoted as saying, “Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.”

So, the accounting and legal functions should be asked for the extent and degree of risk acquired by some particular business action. By analogy, the API development chemist might say, “I got it! You want to know the scope and limitation of each reaction in the synthetic sequence, the hazards involved, and whether the process is sufficiently robust to produce the desired outcome every time!” Exactly.

So how does the general manager integrate many of the truly business-function issues with the technical operations of the company? Often barriers exist well beyond the cherry paneling of the front office echelons, the laboratory bench-top and the shipping dock. Some managers may work from a holistic approach; on the surface this sounds good, but complex chemical operations, rigorous quality standards and regulatory mandates require a more analytical and definitive approach. There are always the clichés to justify the “soft” people skills or the “hard” analytical strengths, such as “Leaders lead people and managers manage things.”

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