It is essential to know the risks in order to be able to handle them  — and projects involving tens of thousands of components, hundreds of workers and budgets running into millions present more than enough pitfalls. Nevertheless, a plant shutdown need not turn into a lottery: the 11th annual TAR conference in Potsdam demonstrated some risk management methods and explained what engineers can learn in Monte Carlo and from pilots …

Pharmaceutical giant Roche relies on Almatec AODD pumps to handle waste solvents safely—Air-operated double-diaphragm pumps from German manufacturer Almatec have proved an ideal solution for Roche, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, in handling waste solvents, many of which are flammable, toxic, or both. A relationship spanning 25 years was first built on Almatec’s A-Series pumps, and now continues thanks to the company’s economic and efficient E-Series models.

Shanghai/PR China – Arkema will invest in new generation fluorogas production in order to partner air-conditioning equipment manufacturers in a changing regulatory environment.

Haldor Topsøe plans to profit from the current demand for catalysts: The company recently opened a large extension of its catalyst plant plant in Frederikssund, Denmark. Especially refineries and petrochemical plants, but also ammonia facilities drive the global demand for catalysts, the firm believes.

Since its introduction in 1979, the Simatic S5 PLC-based control system has penetrated many areas of the process industries. Although many installations are still working reliably, however, in 2003 Siemens began to phase the system out. Faced with the prospect of an eventual lack of spares and support, many users are upgrading to the more powerful Simatic S7 system. System cabling solutions from Phoenix Contact aid rapid and straightforward migration from S5 to S7.

Sometimes, what it takes to get the job done is highly specialised equipment. Nevertheless, quite often universal all-rounder units with their high flexibility have a lead: By combining process steps like sterilizing, crystallizing, calcining, coating or reacting substances, modern paddle dryers can be used in a variety of applications.

Presenting the three major factors for success in pharmaceutical engineering: The 6th Vogel Pharmaceutical Engineering International Forum 2014 was successfully held in Nanjing.

Bayer Crop Science announced its intention to pursue plans to construct a world-scale glufosinate-ammonium herbicide production plant in the United States near Mobile, Alabama. The new facility will contribute significantly to the company’s target of more than doubling global production capacity for this ingredient. The start-up of the new plant is anticipated for the fourth quarter of 2015.

LSB plans nitric acid and nitric acid concentrator plants in El Dorado, Arkansas, USA. The plant operator has already selected Leidos to construction management services for around US $ 82.7 million.

Valuable chemicals in waste aqueous streams often go down the drain as treatment of effluent has always been considered a cost. However, with the advent of new technologies today, it is possible to cost-effectively recover chemicals from effluents in a pure form that can be recycled to reap huge gains.