Chemistry and chemical engineering are focusing confidently on the future: this sums up Achema 2009, which ended on 15 May in Frankfurt. During five days over 173,000 visitors from all over the world visited the 3767 exhibitors in the exhibition halls in order to catch up on the latest products and technologies from chemical engineering, biotechnology, environmental protection and adjacent sectors. Companies, institutes and research institutions displayed their cutting-edge developments from chemical engineering, pharmaceutical and food technology, biotechnology and related sectors over an area of 134,000m2. Here, development engineers and plant designers could find everything they needed, from a single gasket to a complete refinery concept. Moreover, in terms of exhibitors and visitors the 29th Achema was more international than ever before; 46.6% of the exhibitors and 28% of the visitors came from abroad. Both the exhibitors and the organizers were highly satisfied with the outcome of the event. This year’s overriding theme was process efficiency, i.e. the efficient use of energy and raw materials. Biotechnological processes and the application of renewable resources were also key topics. Many exhibitors displayed novel microstructured components, while nanotechnology and ionic fluids played a prominent role in the Congress programme. The Achema Congress was well attended. The 900 lectures attracted scientists and developers to the lecture rooms to discuss the latest market-ready research results. Current topics of general interest were the subject of four plenary lectures and four panel discussions. One particular attraction was the panel discussion on “Green Gene Technology”, featuring Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel and BASF Executive Director Stefan Marcinowski. When the halls closed on Friday evening the next countdown began for the organizers: the opening of the eighth AchemAsia, the foremost event for equipment suppliers to the process industry in Asia, on 1st June 2010 in Beijing / PR China.
