This year, for the first time, ACHEMA will fully integrate the congress into the exhibition programme. All congress sessions will take place either on stages directly in the exhibition halls or in the immediate vicinity of the exhibition groups. Another change to the Congress is that there will be five theme days instead of three this year. Daily highlight sessions within the respective themes will emphasize additional topics, ensuring that all topics driving the process industry are addressed.
"True to the ACHEMA motto 'Inspiring Sustainable Connections', we are bringing together what belongs together," says Dr Andreas Förster, Executive Director of DECHEMA and organiser of ACHEMA. "Application and research go even more hand in hand at ACHEMA 2022 thanks to the closer thematic and spatial integration of the exhibition and congress programme."
Industrial transformation
On Monday (22 August 2022), the theme "Hydrogen Economy" will kick off the event: As we move towards a climate neutral future, hydrogen will play a central role in the transformation of the process industry, the transport sector and the energy system. The process industry is already the main user of hydrogen. The focus of the first theme day will be how to leverage its further potential in the future.
Production without the use of fossil raw materials is an important and ambitious goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the process industry. The idea of fossil-free production is simple, but there are still many unanswered questions. These will be addressed by the “Fossil Free Production” theme day on Tuesday (23 August 2022).
The focus topic of ACHEMA, "The Digital Lab", will be part of the Wednesday (24 August 2022) theme day on "Perspectives in Laboratory & Analytics": Data from all areas of research and production converge in the laboratory. Modular, automated and fully networked, the digital laboratory is a central component for process development and quality assurance. The Highlight Session on this topic and the Congress will complement the theme day.
Digital processes and new technologies
The continuous hot topic of "Digitalisation in Process Industry" can be found as part of the new exhibition group "Digital Hub" (Hall 12.1) and also as a focal point of the Congress programme agenda on Thursday (25 August 2022): "Data is the new gold" is a phrase used often enough, but how can this treasure be harnessed? How can data be used in business models? And how can data security be guaranteed?
The last day of the congress on Friday (26 August 2022) will focus on "Novel Bioprocesses and Technologies": New biopharmaceuticals, bio-based fine chemicals or biotechnological recycling all require new (production) processes. Changes in these processes are especially driven by advances in synthetic biology, automated laboratory technologies, integrated bioprocesses, innovative bioreactor concepts, novel downstream technologies and advanced modelling. ACHEMA 2022 will serve as the global showcase for these developments.
At the ACHEMA Congress, researchers, developers and users will meet to discuss the latest technical developments and solutions for the current challenges in the process industries. In total, the Congress will feature more than 115 sessions. In the five highlight sessions, users, technology providers and thought leaders will discuss where we are today and what the process industry can expect in the future. While the congress sessions will focus on application-oriented research and the development from proof-of-concept to the threshold of market entry, the PRAXISforums will focus on current production issues, best practices and ready-to-use technologies via short presentations – always with application in mind. With the exhibition and the closer integration of the various components, ACHEMA 2022 will offer a complete 360-degree perspective on all trends and technologies in the process industry.
