PROCESS Presents Awards for Outstanding Innovation at POWTECH 2013

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Tough Decisions

In general, the entries were very diverse, making comparison difficult. The jury relied on the assessment criteria, which are also used for many other competitions, to ensure the necessary degree of objectivity. Nevertheless, the journalists anguished over the decisions. Heads were spinning at times and there were some heated discussions, as can be seen from the photo gallery on www.process-worlwide.com. At the end of the day however, the jury had to resort to the Highlander principle, as PROCESS Editor Anke Geipel-Kern put it so well in her laudatory address. Many of the shortlist candidates were running neck-and-neck and in a number of cases the result was a ”photo finish”.

Additional Information

Basic Powder and Bulk Solids Processing

Thermal Fine Dust Agglomerator Eliminates Product Losses

BBA Innova received the Award in the Basic Powder and Bulk Solids Processing category for its thermal fine dust agglomerator. The equipment addresses a problem which is frequently encountered: Fine dust is often generated during grinding of extruded products. A centrifugal separator is used to collect the dust which is then fed into a container for pre-mixing at the beginning of the process. Only small amounts of dust can be added to avoid power loss during the extrusion process. The solution to the problem is to continuously add fine dust which is collected with the thermal fine dust agglomerator. The agglomerator converts the dust into a molten mass which is cooled and then broken into chips. The quality of the chips is similar to that of product coming from the extruder, so the chips can be fed directly into the grinding process.

PROCESS User Award

Again this year, PROCESS readers/users have had the opportunity to pick the winner among winners — the so called user award. 560 participants have selected their favorite among the winning products: First place takes Netzsch-Feinmahltechnik (392 votes) followed by Vega (68 votes) and Waldner (56 votes). Sometimes it is worth the effort. The participant Siglinde Halbritter, who works for Wacker Chemie for more than 20 years, has won an Amazon voucher worth 100 euros. For ten years Halbritter works in the laboratory responsible for research and operational support for the Müller-Rochow-Process. This direct synthesis is a technology for preparing organosilicon compounds such as dimethyldichlorosilane on an industrial scale. The reaction involves a copper-catalyzed reaction of alkyl halides with silicon metal, which takes place in a fluidized bed reactor. Wacker Chemie is an international producer of semiconductors, polysilicon, various polymers, specialty chemicals as well as silicone based products.

This very special award given by the people who actually use the winning products will undoubtedly provide extra motivation for next year’s Innovation Award entrants to develop outstanding new products and product enhancements. In October 2014, the coveted trophy will be placed into new, deserving hands at the next Powtech/Technopharm show in Nuremberg. The PROCESS journalists are already looking forward to receiving a large number of submissions which will provide a compelling demonstration of the industry’s innovative energy and technical expertise. At the end of the day, innovations create a competitive advantage for the process industries and their supply base in the international marketplace. ●

* The author is an editor at PROCESS.

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Innovative Developments

PROCESS Presents Awards for Outstanding Innovation at POWTECH 2013

Tough Decisions

PROCESS User Award