Dear Colleague,
 
It gives me great pleasure to send you this 4th issue of the EFCE e-newsletter on recent activities within the Federation. I do hope that the information will be of interest to you. If there are any topics that you would like to see covered in future issues, or you have comments on the newsletter please get in touch.

Yours sincerely

John Garside
EFCE Executive Vice-President
 

         In this issue:

• New EFCE Mission Statement
  
• Who’s Who
• EFCE Awards
• Events
• Science and Technology
• News from the Member Societies/related organisations
  
• Contacts/Imprint

New EFCE Mission Statement

Dear colleagues,

Since 2006, when a new EFCE president and vice-presidents were elected, several significant steps have been performed to reform the role of the EFCE, its structures and working procedures. This process, which is aimed at increasing the speed, flexibility and effectiveness of EFCE's administrative operations, started with a draft action plan prepared by the EFCE officers and general secretaries, and continued with the development of a SWOT analysis in which most of the Working Parties and Sections took part. All the results obtained from this work have been thoroughly discussed at subsequent EFCE Executive Board meetings and the outcomes will be presented to the next EFCE General Assembly to be held in May 2009. Following these discussion I am very pleased to present to you now a new EFCE Mission Statement which clearly expresses the priorities of the EFCE and shows the ways in which they can be achieved. The Mission Statement is already installed on the EFCE website and it should be used within all EFCE events such as ECCE congresses or conferences and seminars organised by Working Parties or Sections. The content of the Mission Statement will, of course, be incorporated into the new EFCE Statutes.
I hope that you will find the new EFCE Mission Statement helpful in the development of your own chemical engineering activities.

Jiri Drahos
EFCE President

Who’s Wh o

Change of Chairmanship of EFCE Working Parties and Sections

During their last business meeting, the Working Party on Crystallization elected Dr. Béatrice Biscans , Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France, to succeed Prof. Joachim Ulrich in the position of chair of the Working Party. Dr. Brian Glennon , University College Dublin, Ireland, was appointed as the new Working Party secretary.
 
In August 2008, Prof. Ulrich Bröckel , Umwelt-Campus Birkenfeld, Germany, was elected the new chairman of the Section on Product Design and Engineering. He succeeded Prof. Ton Broekhuis, the first chairman of the Section.

EFCE Awards

Student Mobility Award 2009
For the third time, EFCE is pleased to announce the EFCE Student Mobility Award . The award is presented every two years to the best European students of chemical engineering who have spent one or more semesters studying abroad.
The EFCE Student Mobility Award 2009 will consist of three prizes: 1st Prize: € 2,000; 2nd Prize: € 1,500; 3rd Prize: € 1,000. The prizes will be awarded during the 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE-8) to be held in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, from 23 to 27 August 2009. The award also includes an invitation to attend WCCE-8 free of charge and a travel grant.
All students who are citizens of a European country in which EFCE is represented can apply for the EFCE Student Mobility Award if they have successfully studied for at least one semester (>= 30 ECTU) in first or second cycle study programmes in chemical engineering in each of two or more different countries. For further details, application form, etc, please visit the EFCE website at http://www.efce.info/Student_Mobility_Award.html
Applications should be submitted in English no later than 2 years after graduation. The deadline for submission of applications is 31 January 2009 .

Excellence Award in Thermodynamics and Transport Properties 2009
The European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) is pleased to announce the establishment of a biennial Excellence Award in Thermodynamics and Transport Properties to recognise the PhD thesis and associated paper(s) which demonstrate an outstanding contribution to research and/or practice in thermodynamics and/or transport properties. The award consists of a certificate, a cash prize of € 1500, a travel grant and fee waiver to attend the 24th European Symposium of Applied Thermodynamics in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, from 27 June to 1 July 2009, where the first award will be presented.
Nominations may be submitted by any PhD supervisor at a PhD-awarding institution in an EFCE member country or a member of a national or regional member association of EFCE. The nominated PhD thesis and publication(s) must address a topic relevant to the field of thermodynamics and/or transport properties. It must have been completed and published and the PhD degree conferred between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008.
Closing date for nominations: 20 February 2009 .
Further information can be obtained from the WP website at http://www.wp-ttp.dk or the EFCE website  http://www.efce.info/ExcellenceAwardThermodynamics .

Excellence Award in Process Intensification
The Federation wishes to announce the call for nominations for the first Excellence Award in Process Intensification . It aims at recognising a PhD thesis or associated publication which demonstrates the most outstanding contribution to process intensification. The award consists of a certificate, a cash prize of € 1500, a travel grant and an invitation to attend the GPE-EPIC 2009 conference in Venice, Italy, from 14 to 17 June 2009, where the first award will be presented.
Nominations may be submitted by any PhD supervisor at a PhD-awarding institution in an EFCE member country. The nominated PhD thesis and publication(s) must address a topic relevant to the field of process intensification. It must have been completed and published during two calendar years preceding the closing date for nominations.
The closing date for nominations is the end of February 2009 .
Further information: http://www.efce.info/EFCEawards/ExcellenceAwardProcessIntensification.html

CAPE Working Party Long Term Achievements Award 2008
On the occasion of the ESCAPE-18 conference, in Lyon, France, from 1 to 4 June 2008, the EFCE Working Party on Computer Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) presented, for the second time, the Long Term Achievements Award . The award, presented every four years, is given in recognition of outstanding achievements over an extended period of time to CAPE methods, tools and applications for the advancement of science, engineering and technology. In 2008, the CAPE Working Party has an honour and a great pleasure to present the Long Term Achievements Award to Professor Luis Puigjaner , Barcelona, Spain. Professor Luis Puigjaner is one of the pioneers and the most recognizable leaders of process systems engineering community worldwide During his over 40 years long career he has demonstrated his exceptional capacity to lead people, to propose new ideas, and to question the established paradigms. His insights, inspiration and encouragement have very strongly contributed to the success of computer aided proc ess engineering in the recent decades.

Events

Gas Processing Symposium
1st Gas Processing Symposium, Doha, Quatar, 10 - 12 January 2009 (EFCE Event No. 674)
Topics covered by the conference are challanges related to LNG, gas processing applications and novel contributions to design, operation, process safety, environmental sustainability, education, and gas processing tools.
Conference website: http://www.gpa-gcc-chapter.org/PDF/AnnualGas-call.pdf

European Conference on Mixing
13th European Conference on Mixing, King’s College London, UK, 14 - 17 April 2009 (EFCE Event No. 675)
The conference aims to provide a forum for both the formal presentation of the latest fluid mixing research findings, as well as for informal discussions between participants and contact between university- and industry-based researchers to stimulate debate and encourage incorporation of the latest research findings and methodology in mixing practice. Conference website: http://europeanmixing13.org

GDP-EPIC 2009
2nd International Congress on Green Process Engineering (GPE 2009) and 2nd European Process Intensification Conference Venice, Italy, 14 -17 June 2009 (EPIC 2009) (EFCE Event No. 678)
EPIC 2009 focuses primarily on illustrating and discussing how the interactions among phenomena, equipments, and operations can contribute to enhance the processing performance efficiency.
Congress website: http://www.GPE-EPIC2009.org

ESCAPE 2009
19th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering, Cracow, Poland, 14 - 19 June 2009
The ESCAPE (European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering) series constitutes a major event in the area of Computer Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) with participants from countries all over the world. The series serve as a forum for engineers, scientists/researchers and students to present and discuss progress being made in the area of CAPE.
The conference major themes are: Product and Process Design Process Control and Operation, Modelling, Simulation, Optimisation and Process Integration, New Frontiers in CAPE, CAPE in Sustainable Development, and Energy Systems and CAPE.
Symposium website: http://www.escape19.org

WCCE8
8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 23 - 27 August 2009 Congress overall theme: "Challenges for a Changing World."
The major themes are: Energy, Green Processing, New Materials and Processes, Biotechnology, Contemporary Topics in Chemical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering and Society. Examples of industrially-oriented program topics that will be of special interest to engineers working in industry include: Financing Industrial Research and Development, Process Intensification for Sustainable Manufacturing, XTL (X to Liquid), and Process Safety and Loss Management. View the full technical and industrial programs at http://www.wcce8.org or sign-up to receive more information on the congress at http://www.wcce8.org/onlineform.html
The call for papers is still open : Extended deadline for submission of abstracts: 12 January 2009
 
HAZARDS XXI - Process safety and environmental protection
Symposium and Exhibition, Manchester, UK; 10 - 12 November 2009 (EFCE Event No. 680)
The aim of this twenty first symposium in the series is to bring together international experts and practitioners in process safety and environmental protection to present and discuss the latest technical advances and developments in safety and environmental management techniques.
The call for papers is open . The deadline for submitting abstracts is 16 January 2009 .
Congress website: http://www.icheme.org/hazardsxxi

Loss Prevention 2010
13th International Symposium on Loss Prevention and Safety Promotion in the Process Industries, Brugge, Belgium, 6 - 9 June 2010
This Symposium shall be a market place for new scientific result and concepts, exchange of best practice, learning from experience . Much progress has been seen in the more than thirty years, since safety professionals, scientists and practitioners meet on EFCE Loss Prevention Symposia, but still there is a continuous need for research and development in the field, as new challenges appear. Innovation has led to new processes under yet unknown conditions or involving new materials. Furthermore new concepts are required in view of new or upcoming regulation. To foster new ideas in the field, the EFCE Excellence Award for Process Safety will be assigned to outstanding PhD research work for the first time on this conference.
The call for papers is open . The deadline for submitting abstracts is 28 February 2009 .
Congress website: http://www.lossprevention2010.com

Science and Technology

Working Party on Polymer Reaction Engineering
The working party on polymer reaction engineering (WPPRE) of the EFCE was established in the early 1990s to provide a forum for European practitioners from both academia and industry to exchange views, develop relationships, and form new partnerships. In its earlier manifestations, the WPPRE functioned to a certain extent like a mini-conference on PRE for its European members. Later, Thierry Meyer and Jos Keurentjes (then chairman and secretary) edited the Handbook of Polymer Reaction Engineering (ISBN: 978-3-527-31014-2) with contributions from some members of WPPRE, as well as specialists from outside of Europe.
Despite the success of this last effort, interest in attending WPPRE meeting had fallen significantly by 2000. There are many likely explanations for this, including a significant increase in the number of specialised conferences that took up more and more of the members’ time. Time constraints and budget restrictions are clearly challenges that need to be addressed. In addition, one can even ask whether or not PRE is suffering an identity crisis!
As with most fields that are an integral part of the petrochemicals industry, PRE is undergoing some major changes at the current time. The need for more product-driven, integrated solutions for the production of polymers and plastics, for the incorporation of "green" chemistry and energy reduction (sustainability in the current jargon), and especially the fact that at this critical juncture public and private budgets seem to be spiraling downward (and downward...) have all led many people to question the role that polymer reaction engineering (PRE) and engineers play in our society. Is PRE becoming a mature field with only a minor role to play in future developments in the field of polymer production? What can practitioners of PRE still contribute? Is there anything left to invent or do to improve quality of life for our society? All valid questions - however it is up to us to answer them.
In order to do so, to fulfill the original objectives of the working party, and to do so in a manner that places little to no time and budgetary constraints on people interested in PRE, we created a website that can be used by all persons interested in participating in the working party and the PRE community. This website, http://www.wppre.com , was originally intended for EFCE members, but it became quite clear that this tool would be far more effective, and would give us a much more global scope if we opened it up to non-Europeans as well. All comers are heartily encouraged to join this working party - all the information on how to do it is on the website itself. Once you are a member, you will be able to suggest themes for discussion by writing to the site coordinator (me!), place your views on certain subjects (e.g. the future of PRE...) on the front page, offer or look for academic and industrial positions, find and display links to PRE-related events, sites, etc. All-in-all the site http://www.wppre.com is intended to be a sort of PRE bulletin board for all people interested in this topic. It is up and running, free and open to all. The more this tool becomes a site for the exchange of ideas and information, the more it will be of benefit to the community, and the stronger our Working Party will become!

Timothy McKenna
Kingston, Ontario, 14 Nov 2008
 

17th International Symposium on Industrial Crystallization
September 14-17 2008, Maastricht, The Netherlands
The 17th International Symposium of Industrial Crystallization (ISIC) is registered as the 665th event of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering which also acted as the sponsor through its Working Party on Crystallization. It is a triennial event which is now an international recognized forum for all those scientists, engineers and technologists coming from all parts of the world, concerned with the many facets of crystallization.
New challenges from new industrial needs are emerging leading to new scientific fields at the interface of the science of chemical engineering, chemistry, physics and physico-chemistry. The meeting has help to transfer information between the various disciplines involved in crystallization. For examples the following topics were discussed: isolation of polymorphs, resolution of enantiomeric systems, molecular modeling, effect of added impurities on the crystal growth process, production of stabilized nanoparticles, use of computed aided fluid dynamic modeling, new methods for crystals characterization in situ or in line in complex media.
To address these challenges deep understanding of fundamental aspects of crystal growth must be coupled with innovative engineering solutions. Hence this 17th edition of ISIC has incorporated the 8th Crystal Growth of Organic Materials workshop. The joint ISIC-CGOM event was attended by 325 participants from 31 countries. 260 contributions were presented in plenary sessions, 8 topical sessions and several poster sessions. The number of contributions submitted has grown to the point where basic changes in the format of the conference were made: two parallel sessions were scheduled during three days and over three quarters of the papers were scheduled for poster presentations. During the conference the award of the European Federation of Chemical Engineers for the best PhD thesis in the field of industrial crystallization and book-prizes for the best lecture and the best poster were presented.
One of the valuable features of these events has always been the progress towards a higher level of cohesion between academic and industrial workers. Particular classes of chemical compounds were studied such as pharmaceuticals or foods. It is perhaps why an increased number of contributions was related to Product Design and Characterization. The role played by crystallization in moving towards sustainability was also discussed.

News from the Member Societies / related organisations

ACHEMA 2009 (EFCE Event No. 679)
Around 4,000 exhibitors from all continents, 180,000 visitors from 100 different countries will meet at ACHEMA 2009 in Frankfurt am Main from 11 to 15 May. The process industry - the chemical industry, biotechnology, the pharmaceutical and food industries, environmental and materials technology, and energy production - constantly faces new challenges; they can only be overcome by focussed interaction between the various disciplines. These synergies explain why many companies seize this opportunity to present their innovations and technological trends at ACHEMA.
Parallel to the exhibition the ACHEMA Congress spans the complete spectrum of process engineering and complements the classical aspects with a number of special, highly topical lecture series The Congress programme encompasses 900 lectures, numerous special and guest events, panel discussions, expert round tables and plenary lectures.
"Chemistry and Biotechnology for Renewable Resources and Energy" is the theme of the ACHEMA 2009 Special show, which addresses the increasing importance of non-fossil resources for the production of energy and materials. For all information and services for exhibitors and visitors, please visit http://www.achema.de
In conjunction with ACHEMA 2009, the EFCE General Assembly meeting will take place in Frankfurt am Main on Friday, 15 May 2009.

Contact

Editor: Ines Honndorf, e-mail: honndorf @dechema.de

The statements and opinions expressed in the e-newsletter are those of the contributors and EFCE assumes no responsibility for them.