New services, capacities, employees: plant engineering expert Glatt Ingenieurtechnik marks its 30th anniversary with an investment in the future of its headquarters. From vitamins in animal feed and enzymes in detergents to powder materials for high-performance batteries, Glatt, the Germany-based plant manufacturer and process expert, is working on all of these in close cooperation with renowned research companies. In spring 2021, Glatt will expand its technology center in Weimar for the third time in twelve years. For more than three decades, Glatt Ingenieurtechnik has been by its customers’ side, from laboratory through to production. These collaborations sometimes lead to ground-breaking new systems that have never previously been considered or designed. Some of these are available at the company’s headquarters in Weimar, which is why the plant manufacturer has expanded its technology center several times in recent years. The latest developments include, for example, a fluid bed system made entirely of glass for processing special materials with the highest purity demands or for handling corrosive process media. There is also a fluid bed system that processes powders in temperatures up to 900°C, and a synthesis reactor that produces ultrafine powders in the nanometer and micrometer range in a pulsating gas stream, coats them and/or thermally post-treats them at a temperature of up to 1,300°C.

How can cleaning agents components be produced in a more environmentally friendly and effective way? With fluid bed and spouted bed technologies, plant manufacturer and process expert, Glatt Ingenieurtechnik, offers modern, established solutions. As a manufacturer of consumer goods, the detergent industry must respond to megatrends like no other. One of these drivers is sustainability; eco-friendly biosurfactants have been available since 2009 and, now, alternative complexing agents such as α-ADA or MGDA-Na3 can be produced from renewable raw materials and used to replace phosphates. According to the German Zukunftsinstitut (Future Institute), the neo-ecology megatrend is causing a reorientation of the values of global society, culture and politics and will have a defining impact on the 2020s. Consumers and business partners alike are asking about transparent value creation and whether social aspects are being considered. As an example, seamless traceability has long been standard practice. Yet, the ongoing microplastics debate calls for a rethink when it comes to encapsulated fragrances or when the fibres of functional clothing have to be fished out of wastewater. Solutions for all these requirements can only be realised if the chemical industry and original equipment manufacturers work closely together. Innovative raw materials is one side of the coin; technological advances in laundry washing is the other! Authors: Gudrun Ding and Arne Teiwes, both Glatt Ingenieurtechnik GmbH. Originally published in: SOFW Journal, issue 10/2020, Verlag für chemische Industrie H. Ziolkowsky GmbH