Page 166 - CW E-Magazine (17-6-2025)

News from Abroad

CATERING TO PERSONAL CARE
AmphiStar and Kensing team up to offer upcycled

biosurfactants

Belgian biotech firm offering upcy- personal care, agrochemical and HI&I
cled microbial biosurfactants, Amphi- markets.
Star, and Kensing, a US-based producer
of surfactants and upcycled plant-based “Kensing’s scientific expertise in
vitamin E and sterols, are partnering to formulation and production of plant-
offer biosurfactants to the North Ameri- based ingredients coupled with our
can personal care market. novel biomanufacturing technology
platform make this an ideal and com-
As part of this collaboration, plementary partnership that will not
AmphiStar’s next-generation biosur- only help bring our sustainable biosur-
factants, produced by microbial fer- factants to the North American mar-
mentation of repurposed agri-food side ket but also see us jointly develop and
streams, will be launched in the North The products offer performance for launch new ones,” said Pierre-Franck
American market by Kensing in an formulators seeking to develop mild Valentin, CEO, AmphiStar.
exclusive partnership. Leveraging its and sustainable formulations. They
surfactant expertise and established can be used as emulsifiers and co-sur- “By combining AmphiStar’s cut-
market access, Kensing will play a factants in body lotions, creams, sham- ting-edge upcycled biosurfactant tech-
critical role in driving adoption across poos, body wash, make-up remover and nology with Kensing’s industrial scale
the personal care and HI&I industries. other products. and market reach, we are unlocking a
new era of high-performance biosur-
Kensing will work with AmphiStar Kensing and AmphiStar will also factants – formulated from upcycled
to develop regionally sourced circular co-develop AmphiStar’s recently biowaste, free from conventional feed-
feedstocks from bio-based waste and launched library of 80+ sustainable and stock constraints, and offering both for-
side-streams, such as plant oils from unique ‘designer’ biosurfactant plat- mulation versatility and the potential
Kensing’s production, with a near-term form technology, with the shared goal for highly competitive economics at
plan to fully onshore production in the of further developing and commercia- scale,” said Serge Rogasik, President
US. lising high-potential innovations in the and CEO of Kensing.
Aramco deploys renewable energy storage system

for gas operations

Aramco, the Saudi government western Saudi Arabia, the 1-MW/hour conditions, setting it apart from other
owned integrated energy and chemicals flow battery system is based on Aramco’s vanadium flow batteries on the market.
giant, said it has achieved a “world- patented technology and was deve-
first” by commissioning a megawatt loped in collaboration with Rongke Flow batteries store energy in liquid
(MW)-scale renewable energy storage Power (RKP), a global leader in flow electrolytes separately from battery
system to power gas production batteries. It can support up to five wells cells, and electrolytes pumped into the
activities. over its projected 25-year lifespan, cell convert chemical energy into elec-
offers a robust alternative to existing tricity. In addition to providing energy
The company said it is the first solar energy solutions, and can handle independence, flow batteries can be
deployment globally of an Iron-Vanadium variable power demands efficiently and repeatedly discharged and recharged with
(Fe/V) flow battery as a backup solar cost-effectively. It is specifically engi- minimal capacity loss. They also reduce
power source for gas well operations. neered to withstand the hot climate fire risks compared to other types of bat-
of Saudi Arabia and achieve optimal teries, while their modular design makes
Located in Wa’ad Al-Shamal, in performance under extreme weather them easier and less costly to maintain.

166 Chemical Weekly June 17, 2025

Contents Index to Advertisers Index to Products Advertised