Assessing and minimizing risks is managed in an ever more transparent way today, and it is now often a matter for the boss. Lightning and surge protection for structural installations also plays a part. At the end of the calculation, tolerable risk and the effort required are weighed up and assessed in relation to one another. That is the theoretical approach — but what does effective surge protection look like in practice?

Will the visitor record of 16,000 for the previous event be broken this year? There is no reason why it should not be like that with regard to the focus topics of Powtech 2017. And the challenges of the bulk solid process industry are unabatedly high. Containment, traceability and, of course, digitalization demand new ideas and technologies.

Scientists at Cardiff University in the UK have created methanol from methane using oxygen from the air.

Chlorine production at the new Akzo Nobel membrane electrolysis plant in Frankfurt is significantly more efficient and output capacity has been increased by 50 %. This is the first time that Uhde zero–gap technology is being used at a European site.

How modern insulation systems increase energy efficiency—What works for people, also works in this particular case for chemical plants as well: Without the right clothing, energy consumption for heating or cooling to the ideal temperature increases. Potential annual savings of 16124 GWh are there for the taking in the energy-intensive chemical industry. What do companies need to do? PROCESS finds out from insulation manufacturers, industry associations and the chemical industry.

Caloric has won the international tender for engineering and construction of a biomethanation pilot & demonstration plant in Solothurn, Switzerland. For the methanation of carbon dioxide and hydrogen, microorganisms are used as biocatalyst.

The largest production line for the Keltan-branded EPDM synthetic rubber at the Lanxess’ site of Sittard, Geleen, The Netherlands, has been successfully converted to the company’s ACE technology

Explosion-proof electrical connectors are key to the operation of a unique modular drilling rig—The advantage of modular construction is that the entire rig can be assembled and disassembled quickly and cost-effectively under offshore conditions, using only the cranes available on the platform to which it is attached.

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) plans a new soy protein production complex in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, for US $ 250 million. The project expands an existing ADM soy processing at the same site.

Commodity prices only recently gave in by about five percent – analysts blame the recent turbulences in the world economy. A new report by the German industrial bank IKB provides detailed insight for different commodities and materials.