Petrochemicals & organic chemicals
Alcohols
Alcohols are important solvents and source substances for numerous productions in the chemical industry.
Alcohols with several OH-groups are used for polymerization. Apart from natural alcohols, such as for example glycerin, alcohols are produced by fermentation of basic substances containing starch or sugar.
Short-chained alcohols such as methanol and ethanol are concentrated by way of distillation. Longer-chained alcohols with lower steam volatility can be concentrated in falling-film evaporation plants. The separators are often equipped with scrubbing columns in order to minimize product losses via the steam phase.
The mostly concentrated alcohols in distillation plants are methanol, and ethanol. 2-propanole and n-butanol are concentrated in evaporation plants.
Products & Technologies
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Distillation Test Facilities at Karlsruhe R&D Center
With state-of-the-art pilot plants and test benches our R & D Center is optimally equipped for testing in the fields of distillation technology.
Ejector Systems
Ejectors, are devices for the conveyance, compression or mixing of gases, vapors, liquids or solids in which a gaseous or liquid medium serves as the motive force. They are "pumps without moving parts".
Evaporation Plants
Sophisticated systems integrating all components of a thermal separation process plant, utilizing various types of evaporators and heat treatment, to achieve maximum energy efficiency, sustainability, and economic viability in industrial processes.
GEA specializes in crafting bespoke evaporation solutions that precisely match each client's unique...
Flash Dryers
With a history spanning from the Flash dryer's invention in 1928 to the development of unrivaled dispersion equipment and the most efficient integrated systems, no one knows more about Flash drying than GEA.
Other applications
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GEA Insights
Smart, stylish, circular: polycotton recycling with Circ
Resource-efficient fashion has been a long-sought ambition amid the fashion industry’s considerable contributions to global carbon emissions. The need to close the loop by recycling textile fibers into virgin-like materials is higher than ever but seemed like a distant dream until now: Circ, GEA’s American customer and pioneer in the field of textile recycling, might be rewriting the future of the fashion industry.
New food tipping point
Alternative proteins are promising – yet still expensive to produce. The usual response is that scaling up will solve this issue. But what if the solution was really about getting better, not just bigger? From more efficient, high-yield processes to upcycling waste heat, engineers are reshaping how we grow food.
A safer way to produce cancer treatments
As anti-cancer drugs become more powerful and complex, GEA is redefining how to safely freeze-dry these life-saving treatments.
