The Industry 4.0 platform or the Industrial Internet Consortium? RAMI or IIRA? Observe the standards meticulously or just do it? In the matter of procedures to be followed for manufacturing in the future and the Internet of Things, the differences between Germany and the USA may not be unbridgeable, but they are definitely conspicuous.

With sales of more than 2 trillion euros (2.26 trillion dollars; 2020), China is by far the largest chemical producer in the world. Even though growth has slowed from an average of 8.7 to 5.7 percent in recent years, this figure is still very impressive by global standards. This is also true for investments in property, plant and equipment, which amounted to 115 billion euros in 2020. Based on our China Market Insider series, we have summarized some interesting market trends and developments in China's chemical industry this year.

With the growing construction market in Bolivia, Sika has inaugurated a new and highly automated plant which aims to double its mortar and concrete admixtures production capacity in the country.

Reverion’s unique all-in-one solution is claimed to be the first system to simultaneously substitute fossil fuels, produce green gases and enable large-scale carbon capture. With this partnership, the firms aim to bring Reverion's innovative technology to the market and to expand it on an industrial scale.

Dupont has recently inaugurated its new production site in Newark, Delaware, USA. The site manufactures elastomers and is expected to meet the growing demand from the semiconductor and industrials sectors.

Saudi Aramco and Sabic AN have been awarded the world’s first TÜV certificate of accreditation for blue hydrogen, ammonia products. This move marks a significant milestone in the development of ‘blue’ hydrogen and ammonia businesses.

Chinese engineers have mastered the technically demanding construction of a jumbo LNG tank for the first time. The oil company CNOOC has completed four liquid gas storage facilities, each with a capacity of 220,000 cubic meters, the Chinese newspaper ‘Global Times’ reported. Until now, storage facilities of this size were always imported into China, from Japan and South Korea.

Ionway, a newly established joint venture of Umicore and Powerco, has plans to build its first cathode active material (Cam) production plant in Nysa, Poland. With this move, the joint venture aims to scale up the EU footprint in the e-mobility business and expand its annual production capacity to 160 GWh by the end of the decade.

PROCESS Worldwide brings to you the ‘Top 10 plant engineering projects of August 2022’ from all over the world. Right from Wood securing a 100 million dollar+ contract for a unique olefin complex in Europe to Eurotecnica winning a contract for the world’s largest melamine plant, find out all the projects making headlines here.

With the help of the pressurised enclosure, explosion protection is simple and flexible. Above all, it can be used to implement difficult Ex challenges, which is why many users make use of this solution. Two industrial plants in the petrochemical industry in Kuwait and Egypt show how this works in practice.