ChemUK is coming soon

GET TOGETHER

PREVIEW • REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR CHEMUK 2021, THE UK’S NATIONAL EXPO FOR THE BROAD CHEMICAL SECTOR, DUE TO TAKE PLACE ON 15 AND 16 SEPTEMBER

CHEMUK 2021 IS the only large-scale trade show that brings together the UK’s chemical processing, product formulation and chemicalusing industries and will this year offer a much-needed two-day opportunity for business networking, intelligence gathering, innovation showcasing and supply chain sourcing.

Following the show’s successful launch in Harrogate in 2019, event organiser UK Industry Events took the decision to move the show to the largest industrial event space in the UK, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) just outside Birmingham, to facilitate the huge industry demand. Founder and managing director Ian Stone says: “ChemUK has doubled in size in terms of the number of exhibitors and stands. We had 170 in 2019 and this year we’ve got 350-plus. What you can draw from that is a massive appetite among suppliers and partners in the chemical industry to be part of ChemUK.”

ChemUK 2021 will provide visitors with a diverse and impressive showcase of the latest developments in plant, equipment, technology, materials and services that can help the industry drive product innovation, plant and process performance, supply chain fulfilment, and safety and compliance levels. As an illustration, the organisers offer some of the highest profile exhibitors this year, including ABB, Anton Paar, Atlas Copco, Brenntag UK, BTC UK, Busch (UK) Ltd, Calgavin, Dachser, DEKRA UK, Edwards Vacuum, Emerson, Endress+Hauser, George Fischer Sales, Grundfos Pumps, HRS Heat Exchangers, IMCD, Labtex, Monarch Chemicals, Siemens, Tradebe Chemicals, VEGA Controls, Univar Solutions, Siemens and many, many more.

LET’S GET TALKING The ChemUK expo is accompanied by a wide-ranging speaker programme, with more than 150 contributors offering more than 40 hours of free-to-attend sessions. They will offer expert intelligence, case studies, best practice and technological insights to inspire attendees and assist with investment decisions in taking operations to the next level.

The conference sessions will feature contributions from more than 25 trade and technical organisations, four government departments and agencies, several centres of research and technology transfer, and an exciting cross-section of leading chemical suppliers, technology partners, and specialist service providers and consultants.

In particular, as a gathering for the UK industry, the conference will take a look at the impact of the Brexit process and what it means for the chemical sector, along with wider global pressures and trends, the challenges they present and the opportunities they offer.

Among those confirmed to speak are Tim Doggett, recently appointed as chief executive of the Chemical Business Association (CBA), along with its membership manager Dr Karen Harvey; Stephen Elliott, chief executive of the Chemical Industries Association (CIA); and leading executives from BASF UK & Ireland and Brenntag Essentials. An interesting perspective will be given by Dr Richard Daniels, director of the Chemicals Regulation Division at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), who will look at the challenges and opportunities posed for a chemicals regulator after Brexit.

The ChemUK speaker programme, as well as the wider show floor, includes a wealth of downstream chemical user ‘sector-specific’ focus with association and federation keynotes confirmed from the likes of Solvents Industry Association (SIA), British Pest Control Association (BPCA), Paint Research Association (PRA), UK Lubricants Association (UKLA), British Coating Federation (BCF), British Adhesives & Sealants Association (BASA), Cosmetics Cluster UK, Oil & Colour Chemists’ Association (OCCA), Paper Industry Technical Association (PITA) and others.

LET’S GET DIGITAL A key theme of this year’s ChemUK will be the transition to digitised operations. A host of top speakers, including a feature panel session, together with leading suppliers and industry partners across the show floor will address

the digital ‘connected industry’ agenda for the chemicals sector and how it can transition to Industry 4.0 and digitally focused operational models.

Attendees will be able to learn more about this topic from some of the exhibitors, including Gambica, Accenture, ABB, Siemens, Yokogawa, AVTPUMP, Emerson Automation Solutions, A3D, Endress+Hauser, Pepperl+Fuchs, VEGA Controls, Univar Solutions, Carbis Loadtec, Samson Controls, MHT Technology, Etatron, TSA, Method Cyber Security, PACT and others.

Gambica, the UK Trade Association for Instrumentation, Control, Automation and Laboratory Technology, will host a panel session on the digitisation of the UK process industries, where experts from the world of digitisation and process automation will give their view of the current landscape and what the future holds, along with their estimate of where the UK industry sits on that journey.

Process innovation, improvement and intensification will also take centre stage, reflecting current pressures to optimise plant efficiencies, improve process quality and energy efficiency, and deliver cost reductions. Discussions will cover data-driven manufacturing, pump technology, valve and vacuum solutions, control technologies, heat and mass transfer, mixing and separation technologies and other topics. Speakers for this session will come from the British Valve & Actuator Association (BVAA), Gambica, the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), the Process Intensification Network (PIN) and other groups.

THE FUTURE IS COMING No event these days can ignore the insistent drive for sustainability and the development of a circular economy, and ChemUK will be no exception. Caroline Raine, associate director of the National Chemical Emergency Centre (NCEC), will look at the European Commission’s Chemical Strategy for Sustainability and what it means in practice for the UK’s chemicals sector, while Dr Dana Heldt of the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) will challenge attendees to think: “How the chemical sector can save the polar bears and turtles”.

Other presenters in this session will look at the decarbonisation of industrial clusters, with a case study of the Humber cluster; the role of Responsible Care in the circular economy; and implications for specific industry sectors, including adhesives and paints.

That session will be followed by discussions on the transition to bio-based chemicals, which provide one avenue to decarbonisation by moving away from fossil fuel feedstocks. Yorkshire and the Humber’s innovation cluster, BioVale, promotes this new, bio-based economy and helps enterprises profit from its highgrowth, future-proofed business opportunities. As host for this session, BioVale has brought together speakers who represent both academia and industry to explore the current capabilities, successes, opportunities and challenges of transitioning to bio-based chemicals.

This article provides just a brief overview of what attendees can expect from ChemUK 2021 – but there is plenty more. A full speaker listing and exhibitor details can be found on the event’s website, www.chemicalexpo. com, where attendees can also register for a free badge.

COVID RESTRICTIONS MAY WELL MAKE THIS YEAR’S

CHEMUK LOOK DIFFERENT TO THE 2019 EVENT BUT IT

WILL STILL DELIVER GREAT CONTENT FOR ATTENDEES