ACHEMA Congress

Food processing and food biotechnology are key to ensure a safer, more nutritious, and sustainable food supply for a growing world population: Innovations in food processing technologies lead to more efficient and sustainable production methods, and high-quality food products. Disruptive technologies, such as 3D printing, enable the creation of new food designs. Modern food biotechnology offers the tools to make food safer, more digestible, or simply tastier by using the catalytic abilities of microorganisms and enzymes. New plant-, cell- or microorganism-based products offer a sustainable and environmentally friendly source of protein.

• Novel mechanical, thermal or chemical processes for the production and processing of food
• Precision and biomass fermentation
• Producing and processing alternative proteins
• Hygienic challenges

Mixing and separation are core challenges in any materials related process chain. The topic will cover research and development concerning solid liquid separation, gas-gas separation, gas-liquid mixing and process monitoring to treat, handle or process solids, liquids or gases and mixtures of them.

• Treatment, mixing and separation of liquids, solids and gases
• Smart process monitoring
• Separation and filtration technologies
• Mechanical processes
• Thermal processes

Materials and materials processing are essential success factors in the process industry. The interaction between reaction media, reactants, and material surfaces, as well as the correct dosage and composition of ingredients and the product functionality strongly depend on the right choice of materials and their use.

• Metals, alloys, and inorganic materials
• Polymers
• Nanomaterials
• Materials and surface analysis
• Corrosion, erosion, and wear
• Solids processing
• Composite materials
• Processing and joining

Increasingly shorter product life cycles, high product diversity and fast changing demand require a high flexibility of production plants. This session will highlight novel, modular plant concepts, supported by new digitalization and automation approaches. These concepts enable rapid and intelligent adaption to new conditions, including changed production volumes, variable feedstocks, or flexible changes of products. 

• Modular plant concepts
• Modular and flexible equipment and apparatus
• Automation and process control for modular plants
• Process orchestration, Module Type Package (MTP) and NAMUR Open Architecture
• Flexible operation regarding feedstock composition and/or continuous/discontinuous production

Digitalization including AI are essential key features offering new perspectives in plant and equipment design, building, operation and maintenance. From initial design to brownfield or greenfield implementation, from revamping or debottlenecking of single equipment to full plants, from operations to predictive maintenance: all these are essential parts of success stories. 

• Digital transformation and AI perspectives
• Additive manufacturing
• Predictive maintenance

Design and optimization of the right process is the fundamental base for economic success. This starts from basic design and ends with cost engineering. Whether you are using standard tools or AI, whether you are developing a new reactor system or simply improve a process by optimization of parameters or design: Share your success story with us at the ACHEMA 2024 congress!

• Process economics, cost- and energy engineering
• Process control - monitoring, predictive, statistical
• Process design - robustness and flexibility of processes
• Data analytics, machine learning and data reconciliation in smart process operations
• Energy sources and electrification of processes

Safety is priceless. It protects your most valuable assets: your employees, your customers, and your production sites. Security is essential. It defends your investments from outside attacks. Members of the global safety community from industry, services, academics, and authorities are invited to present the latest concepts, methods, measures and regulatory developments to counteract the numerous risks due to e.g. cyberattacks, tampering, explosions, fires, and many more hazards.

• Industrial and labour safety
• Product and process safety
• Product and process security
• OT- and cybersecurity
• Safe and sustainable by design     

The (bio)pharmaceutical industry has very specific requirements relating to process and product quality. This starts with the equipment and materials for the manufacturing of chemical and biological therapeutics as well as vaccines and extends to innovative production concepts and processes, packaging and labelling.

• Facility concepts, (bio-)reactor systems, equipment
• Single-use systems, disposables
• Downstream processing
• Flexible, modular, and continuous manufacturing
• Automation and high throughput technologies
• Sterile manufacturing and containment
• Analytics, monitoring and quality control
• Quality by design

New sustainability reporting requirements are gradually coming into force. What is the current status of selected regulations and how do they interlink? How do biotech, pharma and chemical companies deal with challenges when implementing these initiatives? This topic will give an overview of current policy standards and legislation and will introduce best practice examples from the chemical, pharma and biotech industry.

• Sustainability reporting and corporate sustainability directive (CSRD)
• European sustainability reporting standards (ESRS)   
• EU taxonomie

The diverse group of so-called Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) includes gene and cell therapies as well as tissue-engineered products. ATMPs impose the highest demands for technical equipment and require new approaches in process engineering and logistics.

• Equipment and processes for cell-based therapies
• Upstream processing: Cell line development, cell cultivation   
• Cell culture technologies, tissue engineering
• Logistics of personalized therapeutics
• Concepts for on-site preparation and application of biological therapeutics

Continuously increasing demands on the quality, availability, safety and sustainability of pharmaceutical products require intelligent systems and solutions, including supply chains and logistics. The recent global crises highlighted the great need for innovations for shock-resistant, resilient pharma supply chains.

• Supply chains: optimization and bottlenecks
• Customized manufacturing and on-demand production
• Supply chain sustainability
• Anti-counterfeiting

To achieve net-zero production processes the quantification of environmental impacts is indispensable.
Even though a great number of established tools, such as Life Cycle Assessment exist, several challenges prevail when quantifying the impacts of new products and processes. This topic will present established methods and best practices for environmental assessment and will discuss challenges arising in the chemical, pharma and biotech industry.

• Life cycle assessment  
• Carbon footprint/CO₂ neutrality in production processes
• Net-zero production
• Responsible sourcing and tracing

Water is a key factor of production in process industries, both as a key resource and a critical location factor. Global changes in water availability and the many regulations have prompted companies to develop strategies to improve water usage efficiency, reducing dependence on freshwater. The efficient management of industrial water provides industry with a wide range of economic and strategic advantages. New technologies, upcoming solutions, and innovations, for example ranging from water reuse to ultrapure water, are the focus of this topic.

• Decarbonisation of industrial water management
• AI and digitalisation in industrial water management
• Reducing freshwater dependency in process industries  
• Zero pollution strategies
• Energy and materials recovery from wastewater  
• Ultrapure water for industry processes

To secure the supply of carbon materials for industrial processes while meeting future climate protection goals, the circular economy must be further developed. This includes, for example, efficient separation and recycling processes, but also new cross-value chain approaches and business models to extend the useful life of products and to close carbon material cycles.
In parallel, chemical industry is aiming at broadening its feedstock base towards more sustainable raw materials, and the various players along the value chains are undertaking a wide range of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to implement a circular economy of carbon materials.

• Resource efficiency  
• Urban mining and waste management
• Chemical and mechanical recycling of plastics
• Concepts for circularity

Industry faces major challenges in the transition to climate-neutral production. Many processes must be fundamentally changed in order to reduce CO₂ emissions to as low a level as possible. Some processes can be electrified to eliminate the need for fossil fuels. However, this is not an option for processes that rely on carbon. In the chemical industry in particular, new sources of carbon must be found to replace oil and gas. (Chemical) recycling, biomass, or CO₂ itself are available as options.

• Alternative carbon sources
• Carbon management
• Zero pollution strategies
• Carbon dioxide capture and utilization or storage (CCU or CCS)
• Electrification

New sustainability reporting requirements are gradually coming into force. What is the current status of selected regulations and how do they interlink? How do biotech, pharma and chemical companies deal with challenges when implementing these initiatives? This topic will give an overview of current policy standards and legislation and will introduce best practice examples from the chemical, pharma and biotech industry.

• Sustainability reporting and corporate sustainability directive (CSRD)
• European sustainability reporting standards (ESRS)   
• EU taxonomie

How green is your lab?
Scientific research and innovation play a key role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, the environmental impacts of buildings, processes, infrastructure, equipment and consumables associated with scientific research are frequently neglected. Guidelines, best practices and assessments methods are useful tools to raise awareness towards a more sustainable research practice and help to take measures towards negative impact reduction. In this session, current practices and trends in this field will be presented and discussed, such as minimising the use of energy, chemicals and materials or the role of digitalisation for reducing the environmental footprint of research laboratories.

• Environmental assessment of labs  
• Best practice examples for green labs
• Digitalisation for greener labs

Biotechnology is going through an exciting phase: Recent developments in industrial biotechnology have led to significant advancements in the design and operation of bioreactors and bioprocess engineering, allowing for more efficient mass transfer and rapid optimization of bioprocesses. Downstream processing has been improving through the development of novel separation and purification techniques, while analytics and process control is advancing through the use of online monitoring and data analytics. Biotransformation and biocatalysis currently benefit from the discovery of novel enzymes, protein and metabolic engineering and efficient enzyme immobilization techniques. Moreover, research on biorefineries is aiming at the development of integrated approaches to economically feasible conversions of biomass into a range of value-added products.

• Bioreactors
• Bioprocess engineering
• Downstream processing
• Analytics and process control
• Biotransformation and biocatalysis
• Biorefineries of the future

Sustainability strongly depends on new materials:
To manage transition from fossil/nuclear to renewable electricity production, energy transformation/storage via electrochemical step is vital for grid stability. Because of limited Lithium and Cobalt resources, new (flow) batteries relying on abundant, non-critical and easy-to-recycle electrode/electrolyte materials, such as e.g. Al, Mg, Na, Zn as well as carbonized biomass and lignin are needed.
Sustainable production and use of biomass can serve as a building block for the necessary transformation of the economic system. As its best when the carbon contained in the biomass remains sequestered in the long term, e.g. as a renewable basic material for durable industrial goods, as building material or for reusable/recyclable packaging.

• Durable industrial goods
• Materials and systems for energy storage
• Battery handling
• Building material
• Packaging
• Biobased and biodegradable materials
• Nano materials

To achieve net-zero production processes the quantification of environmental impacts is indispensable.
Even though a great number of established tools, such as Life Cycle Assessment exist, several challenges prevail when quantifying the impacts of new products and processes. This topic will present established methods and best practices for environmental assessment and will discuss challenges arising in the chemical, pharma and biotech industry.

• Life cycle assessment  
• Carbon footprint/CO₂ neutrality in production processes
• Net-zero production
• Responsible sourcing and tracing

Secure supply with inorganic raw materials is a strategic factor for industry and society. The needs for (critical) inorganic raw materials range from everyday applications, over industrial application, to key technologies for a sustainable future, such as e-mobility, energy production and storage as well as hydrogen economy. To enable a resilient circular economy of inorganic resources, circular management concepts and digital strategies, novel technologies for the recycling and recovery of inorganic raw materials from waste streams or other secondary sources, are needed.

• Concepts for circular management of inorganic raw materials
• Design for circularity
• Recycling technologies
• (Critical) inorganic raw materials
• Circular economy in process industry
• Inorganic raw materials for key technologies

Power-to-X processes for green hydrogen, methanol, ammonia or e-fuels offer promising routes towards net-zero carbon economy. Given that water of highest purity is essential, a sustainable and holistic water management is key for the successful implementation. The Water-for-X concept covers the whole field of integrating solutions from (alternative) water resources such as desalination to management of re-valorization routes as well as wastewater treatment and reuse. It covers the full water – H₂/PtX ecosystem.

• Water supply for H₂/PtX production
• Desalination
• Integrated water management
• Industrial wastewater treatment
• Zero emission
• Circular economy

The digital lab has revolutionized laboratory work with miniaturized, modular, and automated technology. By miniaturizing equipment and processes, labs can operate with smaller samples and lower costs. Modular technology allows for customizable setups, with interchangeable parts that can be swapped out as needed. Automation reduces errors, increases efficiency, and frees up time for lab personnel to focus on more complex tasks. The result is a highly efficient lab that can rapidly produce high-quality results. These advances in technology also allow for remote access and control of lab equipment, enabling greater collaboration and flexibility. The digital lab opens up new perspectives and has transformed the way we approach research and development.

• Smart analytics, sensors and devices
• LIMS  
• Automation, integration and interfaces
• Virtual experimentation

How green is your lab?
Scientific research and innovation play a key role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, the environmental impacts of buildings, processes, infrastructure, equipment and consumables associated with scientific research are frequently neglected. Guidelines, best practices and assessments methods are useful tools to raise awareness towards a more sustainable research practice and help to take measures towards negative impact reduction. In this session, current practices and trends in this field will be presented and discussed, such as minimising the use of energy, chemicals and materials or the role of digitalisation for reducing the environmental footprint of research laboratories.

• Environmental assessment of labs  
• Best practice examples for green labs
• Digitalisation for greener labs

Linking the lab with production and quality is essential for ensuring that products meet quality standards and are safe for consumption. Collaboration between laboratory personnel and production teams is necessary to identify and address any issues that may arise during production. By sharing data and insights, the lab can provide critical information to production teams to help them make informed decisions about process adjustments and ensure quality control. Effective communication and collaboration between the lab and production can ultimately lead to better products, improved efficiency, and increased customer satisfaction.

• Data, simulation, modelling
• LIMS, ELN
• Quality control
• New laboratory and analytical approaches

Without eyes, it is impossible to see. Without high-performance sensors, spectrometers, microscopes, and other measuring technologies, it is impossible for the process industry to analyse, optimise and improve itself as well as its product quality. This topic is dedicated to the latest developments of imaging and sensing techniques, as well as analytical methods, that enable effective and cost-efficient applications.

• Analytical techniques
• Spectrometry and spectroscopy
• Imaging techniques
• Chromatography
• Coupling of optical and spectroscopic methods
• Sensor systems for process control

The prediction of properties of substances and mixtures, the development of new materials from scratch, the enhancement of process safety and stability by machine view or the organization of big data are only a few examples how applying artificial intelligence software may help in science and process industry. What are your (industrial) use cases, latest developments, and success stories regarding AI in process industry?

• Foresight and prediction
• Machine learning
• Process safety and stability  
• Risk assessment
• Human-machine interaction and aided decision-making
• Connecting production and utilities

What sets an autonomous system apart is not its AI-driven potential to make smart decisions, but its viability. The ability to interact with others. This requires interfaces, sensors, and networks to communicate with machines, humans, and the environment. This may also include self-maintenance and self-repair. What if such systems were able to pay and shop on their own? Join us to discuss the advances and risks associated with a machine economy.

• Autonomous systems and robotics
• Industrial intelligence and sensor-based process control
• Self-X systems
• Machine economy

Data is key for production and business. Similar to the flow of materials, data streams are weaving through the industry 4.0. The industrial transformation is connecting assets, facilities, and sites as well as building digital twins. From edge to cloud, data and information must be protected and secured. This opens new opportunities for a data economy with distributed ledger technologies. We invite everyone to examine the available concepts, frameworks, and technologies and contribute to their creation.

• Data economy
• Digital twin
• Cyber-physical-systems
• Industry 4.0

The digital lab has revolutionized laboratory work with miniaturized, modular, and automated technology. By miniaturizing equipment and processes, labs can operate with smaller samples and lower costs. Modular technology allows for customizable setups, with interchangeable parts that can be swapped out as needed. Automation reduces errors, increases efficiency, and frees up time for lab personnel to focus on more complex tasks. The result is a highly efficient lab that can rapidly produce high-quality results. These advances in technology also allow for remote access and control of lab equipment, enabling greater collaboration and flexibility. The digital lab opens up new perspectives and has transformed the way we approach research and development.

• Smart analytics, sensors and devices
• LIMS  
• Automation, integration and interfaces
• Virtual experimentation

Increasingly shorter product life cycles, high product diversity and fast changing demand require a high flexibility of production plants. This session will highlight novel, modular plant concepts, supported by new digitalization and automation approaches. These concepts enable rapid and intelligent adaption to new conditions, including changed production volumes, variable feedstocks, or flexible changes of products.

• Modular plant concepts
• Modular and flexible equipment and apparatus  
• Automation and process control for modular plants
• Process orchestration, Module Type Package (MTP) and NAMUR Open Architecture
• Flexible operation regarding feedstock composition and/or continuous/discontinuous production

Water is a key factor of production in process industries, both as a key resource and a critical location factor. Global changes in water availability and the many regulations have prompted companies to develop strategies to improve water usage efficiency, reducing dependence on freshwater. The efficient management of industrial water provides industry with a wide range of economic and strategic advantages. New technologies, upcoming solutions, and innovations, for example ranging from water reuse to ultrapure water, are the focus of this topic.

• Decarbonisation of industrial water management
• AI and digitalisation in industrial water management
• Reducing freshwater dependency in process industries  
• Zero pollution strategies
• Energy and materials recovery from wastewater  
• Ultrapure water for industry processes

Hydrogen demand is expected to rise exponentially in order to transform the process industries towards greenhouse gas neutrality. Ensuring security of supply will be crucial. A wide range of possible transport options for hydrogen are discussed, including, but not limited to gaseous or liquid pipeline transport, as well as molecular carriers like LOHC, ammonia, methanol. This topic will cover all aspect of hydrogen handling, transport and storage from technological perspectives, industrial case studies, conceptual work and system analysis.

• Hydrogen transport, infrastructure
• Security of supply
• Hydrogen handling and storage technologies
• Industrial case studies
• Conceptual approaches
• System analysis

Hydrogen is expected to play a crucial role in the transition towards global climate neutrality. Options for the production of low-carbon hydrogen are plenty and reach far beyond electrolysis. The choice of the technology pathway for hydrogen generation might vary widely between different world regions or countries. We welcome submissions addressing technology development, industrial case studies as well as country specific perspectives, e.g. regarding trade agreements or transport infrastructure.

• Electrolysis
• Renewable energy potentials
• Manufacturing technology
• Scale-up, durability
• Materials research
• Use of raw materials, recycling

As the world strives towards a sustainable future, the chemical industry must lead the way in transitioning to renewable energy and raw materials. Power-to-X (PtX) technologies offer a promising solution, but there are still many challenges that need to be overcome. How can we scale up PtX approaches and integrate them into existing production processes? What industrial applications of PtX should be implemented with priority? What are the most promising progresses in technology or research and development? What is their impact on the industry and the transition of the energy system?

• Integrated PtX-Processes
• Power-to-liquid
• E-Fuels/-Chemicals
• Green Hydrogen and hydrogen-based chemicals
• Feedstock diversification and defossilization
• Storage
• Sector coupling

Power-to-X processes for green hydrogen, methanol, ammonia or e-fuels offer promising routes towards net-zero carbon economy. Given that water of highest purity is essential, a sustainable and holistic water management is key for the successful implementation. The Water-for-X concept covers the whole field of integrating solutions from (alternative) water resources such as desalination to management of re-valorization routes as well as wastewater treatment and reuse. It covers the full water – H₂/PtX ecosystem.

• Water supply for H₂/PtX production
• Desalination/li>
• Integrated water management
• Industrial wastewater treatment
• Zero emission
• Circular economy