Online measurement with methods such as control of pH and dissolved oxygen are common for most biological processes. In fact, many parameters can be monitored but those directly related to cell physiology are time-consuming offline measurements that only provide a reactionary window into the past. Learn how to increase yield and decrease effort with innovative sensors.

Industry 4.0 and digital transformation solutions are a priority for many pump, vacuum equipment and compressor manufacturers. The race to develop new business models has just started. 3D printing has a special role to play, and it will revolutionize the spare parts market.

Biotechnology-based pharmaceutical products form a growth market offering high added value. With the new “Quality by Control” approach, it will be possible to control the product quality during production in the future. Bilfinger is developing new type of software for smart bioprocessing.

The trend to increased specialization and higher-potency active ingredients creates the need for hermetically sealed process flows. Government regulations are also becoming stricter. To an increasing extent, the production process will have to be designed as a containment system. Containment (at least in the pharmaceutical industry) is nothing new. It is actually a long-term trend. Nevertheless, expertise in this field is not evenly distributed.

Because of low crude oil prices, times are hard for bio-based chemicals as they can rarely compete with their fossil counterparts pricewise and cannot even play a trump card in the matter of climate change. Nevertheless, industry and academia are developing bio-based processes fervently and with the prerequisite that the products must not be more expensive than conventional ones.

Chemical companies continue to build new plants. Between 2005 and 2015, global investment in the chemical industry increased by nearly a factor of three and currently stands at more than $ 200 billion. But this rapidly growing market also has growing challenges. This Achema trend reports sheds some light on current mega-projects and the impact this development has on engineering companies.

Praxair announced that it has renewed and expanded a long-term contract to supply hydrogen to Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas.

Oxea plans to significantly expand its supply of carboxylic acids in the short to medium term. To this end, the company is already evaluating various strategic options for its worldwide production sites to be able to meet increasing global demand in the future.

Hydrogen specialist Air Products breaks ground for a world-scale steam methane reformer (SMR) at Covestro’s Baytown facility in Texas. The already sold-out site shall be connected to world’s largest hydrogen plant and pipeline system…

The benefits of single-use technologies include cost savings, reduced risk of product contamination, and increased flexibility in multi-product facilities. Current biomanufacturing trends have brought the demand for single-use to a new level.