Process Intensification - An Unbroken Trend in Chemical Engineering

Process intensification is one of the major strategies in chemical engineering to cope with the steadily increasing demands to design and operate a chemical process as efficient and sustainable as possible. Research on this field reaches back to the middle of the last century and is still an important area of activity for chemical engineers in both, academia and practice. This contribution provides a rough overview on the history of process intensification, highlights three current examples of research (multiple dividing wall column, nanostructured core-shell catalysts, photocatalytic reactions) and closes with a brief outlook to future activities.