SPEAKERS
Adrian Schervan
Head of Global Sales at tk UCE
Born 1956, studied Chemical Engineering at Polytechnical Institute in Bucharest, graduated (Master of Science) in 1983, gained doctorate (Dr. rer. Nat.) in Anorganic Chemistry at University “Carolo Wilhelmina”, Braunschweig in 1988, until 1995 various positions in thyssenkrupp Uhde GmbH’s electrolysis division, 1995 appointed as a representative of Krupp Technologies in Bucharest/Romania, 1999 Manager of the Marketing & Business Development at the Krupp Uhde GmbH, 2001 Managing Director of UHDENORA Milan/Italy, from 2014 position of Head of Global Sales, initially for thyssenkrupp Uhde Electrolysis GmbH and since April 2015 for thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers GmbH.
Adrian Schervan is married, has two sons and is enjoying his leisure-time with golf and sailing.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Ashok Kumar
Director – Technical & Operations in Bell-O-Seal Valves India
Currently holding the position of Director -Technical & Operations in Bell-O-Seal Valves India. The Basic Qualification is Bachelor of Engineering. Having 20+ years of experience in valve industry and hands on experience in the field of valve designing and manufacturing as per various applicable codes and standards such as ASME, BS, API, DIN, ISO, PED, EC GEST, etc.
20 + years of experience covers the design and manufacturing of bellow seal globe and gate valves., also other type of valves like check valves, ball valves & control valves with different grade of material of construction. Dealt with various customers & organizations worldwide. Attended conferences and presented technical presentations worldwide.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Boris Yagud
Executive Director of Association “RusChlor”
In the 1990s, Boris Yagud created the consulting firm Closed Joint-Stock Company “Russian Chlorine Safety Centre” (“Khlorbezopasnost”) and in 2005 both him and his company were among the founders of the Association of the Russian Chlor-alkali Industry (“RusChlor”), and has been the Executive Director of this for almost two decades.
Boris Yagud has also recently been appointed Vice President of the prominent non-profit corporation, non-governmental organisation known as the “Russian Chemists Union”.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Brent Hardman
Co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of Powell
Brent Hardman is co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of Powell located in the state of Michigan in the United States of America. Brent has been instrumental in project development at Powell including the new state-of-the-art Continuous High Strength Low Salt Sodium Hypochlorite Systems. He has over 20 years of experience with the design and fabrication of skid mounted chemical processing equipment.
Brent has assisted in the development and review of technical pamphlets on sodium hypochlorite, chlorine handling, and chlorine scrubbing for the Chlorine Institute.
Brent earned his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Saginaw Valley State University and his MBA from the University of Michigan. In addition, he is also a licensed Professional Engineer.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Christian Bienhuels
Head Project Engineering & Process Design at SGL Carbon GmbH
Christian Bienhuels is responsible for project engineering and process design globally within SGL’s process technology product segment.
He studied Chemical Engineering at the FAU University in Erlangen, Germany. He then worked on different research projects for SGL at the TU Bergakademie in Freiberg, Germany. In 2000, he joined SGL and since then has worked in several positions within the process technology product segment.
As Project Manager, he was responsible for more than 100 system projects, worked on the development of the HCl synthesis unit and has start-up experience for many HCl systems.
He is married and has two children.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Claudia Paarmann
Chlor Alkali & Vinyl Business at Dow
Claudia Paarmann is managing technology standards and most effective technology for the Chlor Alkali & Vinyl Business in Dow since year 2003. With a wide experience in the Chlor Alkali technology she is an active member of the GEST and Equipment Group of Euro Chlor for more than ten years, she is chairwoman of the GEST team since 2018.
Claudia Paarmann studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Applied Science in Hamburg. She began her career with Dow in 1989 as a Process Engineer at Stade in Germany. She worked on many capital and improvement projects for the Chlor Alkali & Vinyl Business to build up Chlorine production for Dow. For the joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical Claudia Paarmann provided a license process design package for a Membrane Chlorine plant.
Recently she worked within a team on Active Learning programs for Chlor Alkali & Vinyl Technology for Dow.
Claudia Paarmann holds the Subject Matter Expert role for Chlorine and Hydrogen for the Dow Chlor Alkali & Vinyl Technology Center and represent Dow at World Chlorine Council, Euro Chlor and Chlorine Institute.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Frank Reiner
President of Chlorine Institute (CI)
Since 2010, Frank has led the Chlorine Institute (CI) where he is responsible for day-to-day operations and for helping to strengthen the Institute’s safety, stewardship and leadership programs. He joined CI in 2005 as Vice President of Transportation and Emergency Preparedness, and continues to guide the industry’s engagement of producers and packagers as well as outreach to customers. Prior to joining the Institute, Frank had a successful career at Union Tank Car Company where he held various positions including Chief Engineer and Director, Shop Operations. Frank earned a Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, a Masters Degree in Management from Purdue University and is a registered Professional Engineer.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Frank Uesbeck
Head of Product Service Departement at tk UCE G
Frank Uesbeck is responsible for the Service Departement within the German entity of thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers since Mai 2019. Mr. Uesbeck finished his Dipl-Ing. in mechanical engineering (specialized in process engineering) at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He joined Uhde in 1998 and is working since that time in the field of the chlor-alkali electrolysis technology. He was lead process engineer and commissioning manager for several chlor-alkali and HCl-ODC plants. He is married and has three children.
Summary of his presentation will follow.
Gilles Tremblay
President and Founder of R2
Mr. Gilles J. Tremblay is the president and founder of R2, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a subsidiary in Cologne, Germany. As an airplane pilot, Mr Tremblay has experienced firsthand the importance of reliable instrumentation and the necessity to know every minute where you are and where you stand, which has shaped his outlook on the chlor-alkali industry. He founded R2 with the vision to provide the chlorine industry with the tools to monitor the electrolysers in real time, in order to achieve increased safety, better performance, and improved maintenance. Considered the reference in safety system for the cell room, the numerous EMOS (Electrolyser Management Optimization and Safety System) installations around the world are the direct evidence that his vision was and remains accurate. Mr. Tremblay continues to be the driving force behind R2’s product development, and he is in ardent believer in the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to propel our industry to higher levels of safety and process optimization.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Gregor Polcyn
Head of Product Management and Technology Department at thyssenkrupp
Dr Gregor Polcyn is responsible for technology development of the German entity of thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers since July 2017 and is Head of the responsible departments. Mr. Polcyn finished his study of Chemistry at the University of Dortmund in 2007 with a specialization in chemical engineering and economics. After his PhD (Characterization of technical ODC’s) time at the Technical University of Dortmund he joined Uhde in 2011 and is working since that time in several fields like development of Water electrolysis and NaCl technologies. He is married and has three children.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Hiroshi Kakihira
Senior Manager of Clean Energy Projects at Asahi Kasei Europe
Hiroshi Kakihira is a senior manager of clean energy projects at Asahi Kasei Europe (the European headquarters of the Asahi Kasei Group) in charge of business development and marketing for water electrolyser systems. He is also currently heading the international project funded by the EU and Germany (ACT ALIGN CCUS) as a project manager at Asahi Kasei Europe.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Jürgen Baune
Chairman of the Euro Chlor Management Committee
As Executive Vice President and General Manager, Dr. Jürgen C. Baune currently heads the Chlor-Alkali and Chloromethanes business lines at Nouryon (former AkzoNobel).
He has had different assignments within the chlorine-associated activities (site management, manufacturing, business development, water treatment chemicals, general management), as well as different senior management roles in R&D, Manufacturing, Technology and business.
Dr. Jürgen C. Baune graduated as a chemist with a PhD in metal organic chemistry.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Karin Jacobs
PDS Consulting
Karin Jacobson has a PhD from the department of Fibre and Polymer Technology at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. After many years at the research institute RISE Kimab she is now running her own consultancy firm. She has more than 20 years’ experience of research related to long term properties of polymers with a special focus on harsh environments such as chlorine, chlorine dioxide and other corrosive environments found in e.g. water disinfection and the chemical processing industry.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Ko Roelofs
Specialist in Chlor-Alkali Research, Development and Technology at Nouryon
Ko Roelofs has been working for Nouryon and its predecessor during 31 years in various technology roles and since 1999 in the Chlor-Alkali Business Line. From 1999 – 2005 he was senior process engineer at the membrane electrolysis plant in Rotterdam.
At present he is Specialist in Chlor-Alkali Research, Development and Technology. His expertise includes unit operations, mathematical modelling, research to improve processes, licensing knowhow, automation and process safety. He majored in Applied Physics and Business Administration at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. Ko Roelofs is a Dutch national.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Kristof May
Regulatory Affairs Manager at Euro Chlor
As Regulatory Affairs Manager at Euro Chlor, Kristof May is responsible for the association’s Regulatory Affairs Committee (RAC) and Energy Taskforce. Both Committees monitor legislative developments at an EU and national level and aim to pro-actively develop positive advocacy. He was previously employed as Economic Advisor at the Belgian Federal Energy Regulator (CREG) where he executed in-depth strategic studies on the Belgian gas and electricity retail market.
He was also an economic researcher at KU Leuven University’s Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT) where he primarily worked on analysing EU and national legislation, as well as regulations in the electricity market. His research was mainly conducted within the framework of European research projects.
Kristof May received his MSc degree in Political Science in 2006 and a master’s degree in General Economics in 2008, both from the University of Gent, Belgium.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Marc Boeckx
Occupational physician at Vynova
Marc Boeckx is an occupational physician with more than 35 years of experience in the chemical industry. A Belgian native, he chairs the health and hygiene working group of Essenscia (the Belgian Chemical Industry Federation). He is a valued member of several national and European associations and is the Chairman of the Vinyls Medical Committee of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM). Within Euro Chlor, he is an established member and chair of the Euro Chlor Health Working Group.
Marc studied medicine at the University of Leuven (occupational health and ionising radiation protection) and University of Louvain (master’s in occupational health). He also has a degree in disaster medicine.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Marleen Pauwels
Executive Director: Euro Chlor/Halogens
Marleen Pauwels joined Euro Chlor in 2011 and succeeded Dolf van Wijk as Executive Director Euro Chlor/Halogens in January 2019. She built experience with a variety of health- and toxicity-related topics, including occupational exposure to chlorine, caustic soda & mercury, and chlorine & asthma as year-long manager of the Health Working Group. From the regulatory side, she dealt with the complex European energy and temporary storage options for liquid mercury topics. Currently, she engages in optimally integrating Euro Chlor’s and Cefic actions related to the EU Green Deal, with the Euro Chlor Mid-Century Strategy as the perfect starting point.
Marleen obtained her doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, with a special focus on human toxicology and regulatory issues. She also gained industry experience as Senior Regulatory Affairs and Toxicology Analyst for Albemarle Europe.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Maurizio Ponzetto
Dr Eng Maurizio Ponzetto, Senior Director Power System
After earning a Master Degree in Electrical Engineering, I started my career managing all the aspects of a project considering that the product supplied is a ring in a longer chain. The design of the equipment, the installation and the daily use need a common point of thinking. If the previous step is well done the following one is easier or works better.
After years of working on my career for multinational and private companies, always in international roles, I moved to United States.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Robyn Brooks
Vice President, Health Environment Safety and Security (HESS) at The Chlorine Institute (CI)
Robyn Brooks serves as Vice President, Health Environment Safety and Security (HESS) at The Chlorine Institute (CI). In this role, Robyn provides staff leadership and support for the Institute’s HESS activities including leading updates of CI pamphlets to reflect best industry safety practice. She also serves as the Institute’s primary government representative to EPA, OSHA and applicable agencies within DHS.
Prior to joining CI, Robyn served for three years with The Mosaic Company in production and engineering roles. Earlier, she held a variety of cooperative education assignments at the Dow Chemical Company and Alstom Power. Robyn is a Summa Cum Laude graduate with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and holds a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from Georgetown University. She is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland-College Park.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Shinichi Kaihara
Membrane R&D at Asahi Kasei Corporation
Shinichi Kaihara, Asahi Kasei Corporation, Japan (a leading company in the fields of ion exchange membrane and membrane cell technologies supply), is responsible for membrane R&D and has been in membrane research with his specialty in polymer science for more than 10 years.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Takayuki Kaneko
Manager Functional Membrane Materials Development Office
Applied Products Development Division at AGC Chemicals
Mr. Takayuki Kaneko has been working for AGC since 2009. He has been in charge of ion exchange membrane FLEMIONTM for 8 years in the R & D Division in Japan. His responsibilities include the development of new membrane technologies and evaluations by laboratory cell operation. His major is electrochemistry and solid state chemistry.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Ton Manders
Technical & Safety Director Euro Chlor
Ton studied chemical engineering at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, graduating in 1984. After his military service, he began his career in 1986 as Process Engineer at Akzo Nobel Engineering (today Nouryon) in the Netherlands. In 1994, he joined the Chlor-Alkali business unit of AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals. In this area, he was project manager for several projects. From 2005 to 2016, Ton was responsible for Technology, Research and Development in the chlorine and chloromethane business of AkzoNobel Industrial Chemicals. During that period, he was also an active member of the Euro Chlor GEST (Safety and Transport) and General Technical Committee (GTC) Working Groups. In June 2016, Ton started in Euro Chlor as Technical and Safety Director.
Read the summary of his presentation “Sustainability Programme results and future KPI’s” here.
Read the summary of his presentation “The future of hydrogen” here.
Wenjie Guo
Bluestar
Wenjie Guo graduated from Sydney with a MBA degree and a various background obtained from Chlor and Alkali industry. Now he in charge of Bluestar Sales & Marketing in European region. Accompanied the first European project of Bluestar (Beijing) Chemical Machinery Co., LTD. honorably presented to Spolchemie Electrolysis a.s. in Ústí Nad Labem by 60KTPA KOH electrolysis and 43KTPA NaOH electrolysis summed up and started up on April, 2017. The project is a typically technological conversion, which enabled the client to continue the stable production of chlorine, soda and other downstream products with advantages from mercury to membrane technology. More than that the speechmaker owns solid experiences in various cell element upgrading like Force Circulation Electrolyzer modification and structural optimization of narrow gap cells to Zero Gap. The speechmaker is willing to share the up-to-date electrolysis technology featured by Bluestar which is subjected to the findings from different running cases.
Read the summary of his presentation here.
Witold Romanski
Piping & Valves Lead Engineer, ARKEMA’s Technology Department
A French citizen with a master’s degree from the Grenoble Institute of Technology (INPG), Witold Romanski works as a Piping & Valves Lead Engineer, ARKEMA’s Technology Department.
He has 15 years of experience as a Design Department Manager at companies manufacturing industrial valves for petroleum and chemical applications. He also has 20 years’ experience as Head of Piping Design Department in power and process piping engineering companies.
Other relevant experience in the field of industrial valves includes:
– Author of French patents for quarter-turn metal seated valves
– Design & certification tests of cryogenic & steam service valves
Read the summary of his presentation here.