Our Industries

Cement has been an essential part of human infrastructure worldwide since ancient Chinese and Roman times. Never before has the cement industry faced more innovation challenges due to its impact on CO2 emissions and climate change than today. Decarbonisation, alternative fuels, energy efficiency, hydrogen, calcined clay, and concrete recycling are no longer buzz-words. They have become an integral part of industrial solutions' response to our changing world.

The chemical industry represents the broadest range of unit operations, combined with tremendous diversity in production scale, specific feedstocks, intermediates and products. It is hard to be an expert in each and every process step and equipment. Therefore, many industries have found it advantageous to have a digital twin. Understanding these process units and their complex interdependencies and connections is pivotal to de-risking and optimising operations.

Although environmental protections form the basis of our physical health, in industrial production they do not necessarily contribute to economic benefits. Investing in environmental protection is not only mandatory to comply with regulatory requirements, but also enhances the social acceptance of industrial production in less densely populated areas.

Worldwide competition for potable water increases the pressure on the mining industry to further develop dry beneficiation processes. With the vast amount of raw materials being transported and processed in the mining industry, the potential savings and sustainability growth are enormous.

Regulatory compliance plays a significant role in pharmaceutical product and process development. Increasing cost pressures and playing time-to-market catch-up are drivers for applying digital twins for the scale-up and tech transfer that are already well established in other industries. This industry is likewise ready for digital disruption

The supply of affordable and reliable energy creates a natural tension between existing infrastructure and sustainability goals. The increasingly visible consequences of global climate change requires an acceleration to transform every aspect of the global energy market.

Like other energy-intensive fossil fuel industries, the petrochemical and refining industry faces the challenge of securing efficient daily operations while realising energy efficiencies in huge energy transition and innovation projects.

Most unit operations in metallurgical production are flow related. Hydrogen addition to PCI cannot be observed in the blast furnace blow mould but calculated by an advanced physical model.

As in the chemical industry, thermo-processes are broad in their application as well as product requirements. Asphalt production produces dozens of different qualities, produced in batches requiring a few hours each. At the same time, making a single high quality graphite electrode takes an average of 40 days with a highly accurate cooling-off curve. This is a true challenge when combined with fuel price rallies and a conversion to more sustainable fuels.

Municipal wastewater treatment is a complex biochemical process, highly dependent on local wastewater composition, weather and seasonal influence parameters. The increasing need for clean water, ever-more restrictive emission limit values and social awareness force industrial and municipal water treatment operators to pursue continuous improvement.