Abstract
Process innovation—the systematic optimization of raw materials, energy consumption and product yields—is a constant challenge for those operating plants producing vital basic and intermediate chemicals. The production processes, rather than the products themselves, exhibit life cycles and determine the profitability of downstream manufacturing. The ongoing task of interdisciplinary teams of experts is not just to develop new process routes, but, more commonly, to improve individual process steps. The impulse for this innovation arises from changes in the price and availability of raw materials, economic and environmental considerations and, last but not least, scientific and technological progress. This paper illustrates the opportunities available using examples which have already been put into practice as well as problems not yet resolved. Questions such as the use of alternative feedstocks and the switch to catalytic processes arc addressed and used to suggest novel ideals for basic research. Worthwhile projects are identified in the area of industrial oxidation, both catalytic and non‐catalytic. A highly developed, systematic, computer‐based method for optimizing the integration of energy flows within a plant is presented and novel measurement techniques for efficient production control and product quality are. discussed. The successful realization of such concepts requires the ability and the willingness to think in terms of new approaches to problem solving, making this an important objective for university education geared to future needs.