Silver Jubilee of PRES Conferences: Contributions to Process Integration Towards Sustainability

Abstract

The paper provides an updated overview of the main achievements and ideas presented at the most recent PRES conferences and in the fields which have been covered by them. The conference history now reached a quarter of the century – from 1998 to 2022. The PRES conferences have become one of the main vehicles for spreading Process Integration (PI) into various research directions and fields of possible implementation. The PRES went successfully during the last period challenged by COVID-19 pandemics. Not all conferences managed to adapt well. However, PRES successfully implemented the hybrid mode and learned how to use it efficiently for enlarging the number of speakers as well as the audience while still keeping very intensive and beneficial cross-fertilisation and networking. Some experiences have been shared in this paper. The hybrid mode helped successfully intensify the research efforts on the research challenge, which remained as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemics – an increased amount of waste and during the life and economy recovery also increasing environmental footprints. This short overview includesProcess Integration with Pinch AnalysisProcess Integration with another approachDevelopment of heat exchanger systems for Process IntegrationOther extensions of Process Integration for wider Process Systems Engineering and recentlyCircular economyEnvironmental footprints and nexuses and justCOVID-19 pandemics energy and environmental consequences and recovery. This paper presents an attempt to demonstrate and make suggestions for the future growth of the Process Integration branching out during the next years.