Chemical Firms Eye Pollution Control

FMC, Church & Dwight, and Tata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners are forming a joint venture to make and market sodium-based dry sorbents for air pollution control in electric utilities and industrial boilers. The venture, Natronx Technologies, will have its headquarters in Princeton, N.J., where C&D is based. C&D is the largest U.S. producer of sodium bicarbonate, whereas FMC and Tata produce sodium carbonate, also known as soda ash. Natronx plans to spend $60 million on a 450,000-ton-per-year plant to produce sorbents based on trona, a precursor to both chemicals.