It sounds like a scene from a science fiction movie: A newly developed method produces customized molecules in the reactor according to a building plan – to some extent the 3D printer for chemistry. Although the “Chemputer” was actually supposed to synthesise customized medicine, British defence and aerospace multinational BAE has secured the method. Now drones are expected to be developed in the chemical bath.

Industry is under pressure to develop sustainable processing methods. With this in mind, the List kneader processor provides an alternative to the stirred-tank reactor for the production of polymers, allowing solvents to be eliminated from the reaction step. The kneader processor is also an alternative to the extruder for polymer devolatilization.

In addition to the proven connection to Foundation fieldbus H1, the FieldConnex temperature multi-input from Pepperl+Fuchs is now available for use with Profibus PA.

Lanxess announced the capacity expansion for the industrial chemical benzyl alcohol for the global market by around 30 %.

The artificial intelligence framework called ‘KRTI 4.0’ aims to achieve operational excellence for industry, utilities, transportation and infrastructure organisations. The framework makes use of advanced digital concepts such as AI, cognitive/machine learning and machine-to-machine (M2M) for industrial environments.

With a total investment of 4.2 billion US dollars, the Nanhai petrochemicals complex at Daya Bay in Huizhou, China, has attracted a lot of attention because of its sheer scale. But to automation experts the complex is equally interesting because of the sophistication of its process control and monitoring systems.

Innovative hybrid sensor drive combines two technologies to deliver superior application performance.

Maag Americas adds the Colorex color mixer to its line of Ambient Pulverisers. The mixer is used to mix product in-line with a pulveriser to eliminate the typical cleanup time of a central mixer. It is designed for most polymers and for production rates up to 907 kg/h (2,000 lbs/hr).

KSB received the “2008 Best Innovator” award in the “Complexity Management” category. What exactly was it that so impressed the judges from A.T. Kearney and WirtschaftsWoche business magazine? PROCESS went to find out.

How does a user know that degradation is taking place in a pump and that it will eventually lead to a major fault? Manufacturers are working hard to develop intelligent diagnostic systems. The goal is to develop simple solutions which are cost-effective even on small pumps. Suppliers are developing early fault detection strategies which are designed to enhance pump availability. PROCESS takes a look at the latest developments.