International Experts Summit on Catalysis and Chemical Engineering

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

Industry trends

Key trends shaping this market and its wider industry.

Hotel tiers

A range of accommodation options near the venue and across key areas.

Local transport

Get around the city with these convenient transport options.

Frequently asked

Glossary

1

Unit operation

A single physical or chemical processing step (distillation, absorption, filtration, drying) that is designed and scaled individually, then chained into a full process flowsheet. Central vocabulary for the process-design sessions at this Osaka chemical engineering meeting.

2

Reaction engineering

The study of reaction kinetics, thermodynamics and reactor types (CSTR, PFR, batch, fluidised bed) to size reactors and control selectivity and yield. Typically paired with catalysis papers on the programme.

3

Catalysis

Acceleration of a reaction by a material that is not consumed, split into homogeneous, heterogeneous and enzymatic routes. Catalyst design, deactivation and regeneration are recurring academic and industrial themes at chemical engineering conferences.

4

Process intensification

Redesigning processes into smaller, more efficient units through microreactors, reactive distillation, membrane reactors or alternative energy input, aiming at lower capital cost and energy intensity.

5

Membrane separation

Separation using selective barriers - reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, gas separation and electrodialysis - widely applied in water treatment, gas sweetening and downstream bioprocessing.

6

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

Numerical solution of momentum, heat and mass balance equations to predict mixing, residence-time distribution and heat transfer in reactors, agitated vessels and packed columns.

7

Process simulation

Steady-state or dynamic modelling of a full plant in software such as Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS or DWSIM to close mass and energy balances, size equipment and run case studies before detailed design.

8

Scale-up

Translating bench or pilot results into commercial equipment capacity while holding yield, selectivity and safety margins - the theme that links most laboratory papers to industrial practice.

9

Techno-economic analysis (TEA)

Combining process mass and energy balances with capital and operating cost estimates to produce minimum selling price, payback and sensitivity cases for a proposed technology.

10

Life cycle assessment (LCA)

Cradle-to-gate or cradle-to-grave accounting of emissions, energy and resource use per functional unit, increasingly used to defend claims about low-carbon chemicals and fuels.

11

CCUS

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage - amine scrubbing, oxyfuel, direct air capture and mineralisation routes, plus transport and sequestration infrastructure, a staple topic in energy-transition process tracks.

12

Green hydrogen and electrolysis

Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis powered by renewable electricity, covering PEM, alkaline and solid-oxide stacks plus balance-of-plant compression, storage and ammonia conversion options.

13

Chemical recycling

Depolymerisation, pyrolysis and solvolysis routes that turn plastic waste back into monomers or feedstock, contrasted with mechanical recycling in circular-economy sessions.

14

Process safety and HAZOP

Hazard and operability study - a structured team review of piping and instrumentation to find deviation-driven hazards, supported by relief sizing, layer-of-protection analysis and inherently safer design.

15

Heat integration and pinch analysis

Matching hot and cold streams to minimise external utility demand, visualised on a composite curve, and a standard method behind energy-efficiency and decarbonisation case studies.

16

Digital twin

A live model of a plant or unit kept synchronised with sensor data, used for soft sensing, predictive maintenance and operator training; often linked to machine-learning surrogate models.