With fast data communication and high bandwidths, Industrial Ethernet paves the way to Industry 4.0 in the chemical, oil/gas and petrochemical industries. But what about in zone 0, 1 or 2? From A for antenna to W for WLAN: typical problems that can arise with Ethernet installations in hazardous areas and the right solution.

The process industries must establish efficient and circular processes that do not require fossil raw materials and energy. But what does that mean for the careful use of water as a resource? We talked about this with Dr. Thomas Track, Head of Dechema’s Water Management Department.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has regularly hit the headlines: in 2016, it beats Grandmaster Lee Sedol in playing Go, and in 2018, the auction house Christie's auctioned off the first artwork created by artificial intelligence, "Portrait of Edmond de Belamy", for over 400,000 dollars. And today the AI-based text generator GPT-3 from the research laboratory Open AI, co-founded by Elon Musk, is said to flood the web with fake news through machine-generated posts but what about industrial applications of artificial intelligence? What are the opportunities and challenges of AI in the process industry?

With a mega investment of 7-million-dollars, Borealis has developed a new filtration system with assistance from the Technische Universität Wien and the Graz University of Technology. The system boasts of reducing the loss of plastic pellets into the environment in order to meet the goal of zero pellet loss.

Perstorp Group will be acquired by Petronas Chemicals for a whopping figure of 2.3 billion Euros. The move is in line with Petronas’ aim of accelerating its sustainability ambitions to achieve circular economy and carbon neutrality by 2050.

China has published new important guidelines for further development of its chemical industry. The ‘Guidelines of the 14th Five-Year Plan for the Petrochemical and Chemical Industry’, were presented in a live internet broadcast on July 30. In it, the main guidelines of the 14th Five-Year Plan are specified in detail. Here are some important insights.

Evonik has expanded the manufacturing capacity of Tegosoft MM MB in China. The company’s Care Solutions organics plant, as a second site, will now be producing this product which will assist the firm to cater to the strong Asia Pacific market with ease.

Clariant has successfully produced the first commercial cellulosic ethanol at its production plant in Podari, Romania. The facility is expected to process 250,000 tons of straw in order to produce 50,000 tons of cellulosic ethanol annually. The global energy company Shell will be off-taking the entire production from the plant.

In line with the Paris agreement and an aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Perstorp will be converting majority of its polyols produced at the largest production plant in Perstorp, Sweden, to pro-environment products.

With an action plan to promote ‘green petrochemical clusters’, the Chinese southern province of Guangdong wants to encourage further growth in the industry. The ambitious plans are valid up to 2025, i.e. parallel to the People's Republic's new five-year plan, which is currently being tied up in the corridors of power in Beijing. What is the industry’s future in the region?