I visited the 9th of European Process Intensification Conference (EPIC2025) in Athens, June 4-6 2025. It contained over 100 oral and over 40 poster contributions. Here are some PI solutions of industrial relevance:
Heterogeneous Catalysed Reactor
Professor Hannsjorg Freund of TU Dortmund presented work on a heterogeneous catalysed reactor. The new reactor and the new catalyst structure was designed and constructed by CFD modelling and 3D printing. Experiments proved that this reactor has higher productivity per cubic meter and lower pressure drop and conventional packed bed reactors.
Oscillatory Reactors
Professor Adam Harvey of Newcastle University showed many industrial scale applications of oscillatory reactors. These are tubular reactors with forth and back-flow super imposed on forward flow. This reactor can be used for single, two-phase (gas-liquid and liquid-solid) and three-phase (slurry) flow. The oscillatory flow with baffles at the wall create local turbulence, for high mass and heat transfer, while facilitating a long residence time in a limited pipe length. An additional advantage is that down-scaled pilot plants are feasible with same performance as the large scale, so scale-up is reliable.
Oscillatory Flow Combined with Linear Flow Applied in Membranes
The same oscillatory flow combined with linear flow is now also applied in membranes, as shown by Hassan Gomaas of Western U. London, Canada. He showed experimentally that the local turbulence avoids formation of fouling layers on the membrane. His membrane material was stainless steel, in which the pore openings were made rough by metal oxides particles. This roughness creates hydrophilic behaviour by which water permeated, but no oil droplets. This membrane technology promises to be a robust, highly selective separation, while fouling is avoided.