Competitive Edge: Sulzer Chemtech USA

Q: What was the reason for founding your organization – what was the open niche you saw that could be addressed with a new product or service? What was the problem, or gap, or opportunity?

Structured packing has been Chemtech’s defining feature: A new generation of packing MellapakPlus

Detailed measurement of liquid holdup over the full height of a packed bed using gamma scanning showed an increased holdup at the interface of the packing layers. This phenomenon limiting the capacity could be confirmed with CFD calculations. By modifying this interface, the structure of the packing could be optimized in such a way that capacity could be increased by 20-30% with the same efficiency. This packing type was called MellapakPlus which quickly conquered the market in 1999.

Q: Tell us about your organization. What do you do?

Our leading technologies, products and services enable our customers in the oil & gas, chemical, polymer and biobased sectors to operate world-class production plants. With our dedication to innovation and our global set up, we are always close to the customer. Check out the Chemtech video here.

Q: What stage of development are you?  Choose one:

Commercial stage – have mature products or services on the market.

Q: What do your technologies, products or services do and accomplish – how does it (they) work, who is it (they) aimed for?

We combine deep process knowledge and a broad portfolio of leading technologies, we can engineer the optimal separation and mixing solution for any customer – from design and co-development to documentation, process optimization and lifetime service and support.

This includes:

• A trusted brand with solid references of success, knowledgeable specialists who can solve any mass transfer, separation or chemical processing challenge.
• Extensive design, process optimization, documentation and certification support. An innovation partner who can create and tailor new applications and solutions where none yet exist.

Q: Competitively, what gives your technology, product or service set an edge in cost or performance, sustainability, or any other aspect, that makes it stand out from the crowd, In short, what makes it transformative?

Chemtech’s structured packings are used in the key industries that run the entire world and this our deep expertise is key. Across all industries, our customer’s success depends on their ability to safely, reliably and cost-effectively guarantee the performance of all the separation processes that are critical for continuous and trouble-free operations. Whether it’s structured packing, distillation or mixing, our customers demand safe, efficient and reliable equipment from a strong global supplier.

Q: What are the 3 top milestones you have accomplished in the past 3 years?

• Startup of world’s largest PLA biopolymer plant using Sulzer technology.
• Start licensing our technologies in the field of bio-polymers, biofuels and oleochemicals.
• Launch of global biobased team to prepare for the future growth in the bioeconomy.

Q: What are the 3 top milestones you will accomplish in the next 3 years?

• Increase our footprint in biobased products industrialization via more collaborations in scale up of early stage companies and new technologies.
• Expand our licensing portfolio for bio-based processes
• Successful viable production of new bio-polymers and polymer chemical recycling processes on pilot or demonstration scale

Q: Where can I learn more about Sulzer Chemtech?

Click here to visit Sulzer Chemtech’s website.