Start-Up Companies at Achema — Achema not only wants to be the world’s leading trade fair for the chemical industry, but also to provide a forum for start-ups. Because despite the unbroken innovative power of the industry, start-ups in the chemical industry have a hard time. Is there a lack of recognition, capital or simply the opportunities? Achema wants to change all that.

Challenges for manufacturers of explosion protection solutions – LNG, hydrogen, and digitalization of process plants with Ethernet-APL are focal points for manufacturers of explosion protection solutions. We talked to Dr Andreas Kaufmann, Head of Marketing and Innovation at R. Stahl, about how the Ex specialist is dealing with these future challenges.

Not only the production of green hydrogen, but also its safe and compact storage is a major challenge for the energy transition. Metal hydrides could be a good solution — they store large quantities of hydrogen in a small space, but release greenhouse gases during production. This is now set to change.

Hydrogen company HyCC has launched Project H2era to construct a 500-megawatt green hydrogen plant in the Amsterdam port area. The project, launched in cooperation with the Port of Amsterdam, is a major step forward in the development of the regional hydrogen economy to help decarbonize industry and mobility.

The energy crisis in China has triggered a price explosion for many chemical products. Around a quarter of all chemical companies in the People’s Republic have had to curtail or temporarily halt production since electricity became scarce in September, Chinese media report.

How good, agile service enhances a company’s reputation and becomes a gateway to the customer?Germany is not a service desert: For pharmaceutical machinery manufacturer Glatt, the after-sales service team is a source of pride. Martin Zemke’s technicians are available around the clock for customers worldwide. In an interview, Zemke reveals what makes the difference.

China's largest MDI producer, Wanhua Chemical, continues to expand its market share. The company already dominates the global MDI market ahead of Covestro and BASF. It will continue to expand its capacities in the coming years, reports the Chinese chemical newspaper Zhongguo Huagong Xinxi Zhoukan. What does this mean for the global market?

The digitization train is picking up speed and many companies in the process industry have already jumped on board to gain a competitive edge through a deeper understanding of their production and a better overview of their various systems and locations. In this process, more and more companies are exploiting the fast and pragmatic approaches offered by open-source software. Automation experts, such as those from Wago Kontakttechnik, in a team with system integrators combine sensor systems, gateways, container applications and cloud computing to extract even more information from company processes.

Covestro, the Chemicals group is planning to cut up to 10 % of jobs worldwide. Up to 1700 jobs across the globe, and more than 900 in Germany might be cut by the end of 2023, according to initial estimates.

Can hydrogen play out as chlorine chemistry’s trump card? — Safe, clean, and sustainable — Eurochlor’s position paper on its Mid-Century Strategy for the chlorine industry reads like green buzzword bingo. Yet it’s clear that if the European Union wants to become carbon-neutral by 2050, it will have to take chlorine chemistry into account. It’s just as well that electrolysis provides a sought-after co-product.