Process Intensification and Transformation
Faster, Smaller, Better
Innovation of chemical processes, both incremental and radical. That’s the focus of the Process Intensification and Transformation (PIT) innovation program.
What?
This innovation program targets process innovations that can be incremental, i.e. improvements of existing processes or new ways to perform existing processes, as well as radical, i.e. breakthrough innovations leading to completely new processes.
On the one hand, process intensification is mainly focussed on energy efficiency, resource efficiency, the reduction of waste, and process safety. We look at technologies like flow chemistry, energy-efficient separations, new reactor design, alternative solvents or waste-heat recovery. Besides the improvement of individual processes, the integration of processes is important too. This will result in processes that are safer, cleaner, smaller and cheaper.
On the other hand, we work on more radical process transformations that will enable the use of renewable energy in our processes like electrification and adaptation to variations. We also work on Carbon Capture & Utilization (CCU) and look at the cost-effective production of hydrogen and its potential as a chemical feedstock. In the field of renewable energy and energy carriers (hydrogen can also be used as an energy carrier), the chemical sector is not in the driver seat, but as a major energy user and provider of technological solutions, the chemical sector plays an important role in this evolution.
Digitalisation as a major driver of innovation plays an important enabling role in this program. New digitally enabled solutions improve process control and operations’ efficiency and reliability. These new solutions can further optimise processes, for example through sensors, model predictive control and predictive maintenance. In addition, these new solutions can also improve production management, for example by considering product quality, as well as the energy and resource efficiency of connected processes and plants.
Why?
We also work on more radical transformation of processes in the chemical industry, as this will be needed to realize significant greenhouse gas emission reduction and avoidance in our own sector as well as in other sectors, which will ultimately contribute to reaching the climate goals. Furthermore, new processes will be needed for the realization of a circular economy.
Goals
The goal of this program is to, each year, develop several improved processes that are safer, save energy, save resources, produce less waste, are more flexible, and/or deliver higher quality.
In addition, in the longer term, we want to develop a number of radically new processes that not only enable the sustainable transformation of the chemical industry, but – through its services and products – also the sustainable transformation of other industries. This way, the chemical industry will take on a crucial role in the sustainable economy and society of the future. Every project within this program has the clear ambition to deliver one of the following:
- an improved production process in the chemical value chain that contributes to both increasing the economic and decreasing the environmental impact of the current process, or
- a crucial step forward in the development of a radically new process, which in turn will contribute to the sustainable transformation of our sector (as well as other sectors)
Focus Topics
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Continuous processing
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Separation processes
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Electrochemical processes
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CCU
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Hydrogen
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Energy efficiency & electrification
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Digitalisation.