Commercial Availability of Artificial Intelligence Products for Use by Chemical Companies

In a recent blog I wrote on how thirteen global chemical companies describe in their annual reports the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their businesses (click here to read that blog).   In this blog I identify eight companies that offer for sale AI products that are described as useful for chemical companies.   These eight companies are: 

Aspentech has AI applications to help solve processing problems. (website) 

Aveva offers AI to help improve chemical processes and operations.  (website) 

byteLAKE offers an AI solution which helps to reduce mixing simulation time from hours to minutes.  (website) 

CHEMTECH provides AI-based software designed to operate production lines.  (website) 

C3-AI has an AI solution that improves product quality and overall yield by predicting off-spec products. (website) 

Napcon uses AI to improve a plant’s performance.  (website) 

Samotics provides an AI product that monitors systems’ health, helping to limit unplanned downtown. (website) 

Sentian offers AI-based applications for controlling chemical processes and for planning supply chains and logistics.  (website) 

Industrial digitalization efforts, which includes AI use, is being emphasized.   For example, the recently passed and signed “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” has support for smart manufacturing.  (Click here to read a blog on this.)  Awareness of companies that offer AI products intended for chemical operations should be useful to chemical companies.

  

Global Chemical Companies Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The most recent annual reports of 37 global chemical companies were searched to determine what the companies indicate in the reports about their use of artificial intelligence (AI) and/or machine learning (ML) in their operations.  Here is what was found: 

BASF is digitalizing processes at more than 420 plants and is using AI to collate data from sources to accelerate innovation processes, optimize supply chains and logistics concepts, and simulate product applications. 

Clariant uses AI to provide real-time recommendations about control parameters to help, for example, formaldehyde and methanol production increases and efficiencies.  Clariant also combines process data with ML to increase throughput in production. 

Covestro uses AI to help their chemical plants optimize energy usage. 

DSM uses AI to facilitate employee talent exchanges within the company.  The company also uses AI in developing bio-based products and their production technologies. 

Evonik uses AI in research, development, and applications technology.  It also uses AI to improve animal nutrition and health. 

FMC is exploring the use of AI to create opportunities for the company.  The company is enabling pest scouting using AI and is using ML to help explain how soil diseasesemerge.

 Lanxess uses AI to optimize development of customer-specific, high-performance plastics. 

Mitsubishi uses AI to improve the customer interface with the company, to optimize supply chains, to automate process control, in product analysis and quality inspections, and to promote new material and pharmaceutical developments. 

Nitto Denko uses AI to detect safety hazards and prevent accidents. 

Solvay is developing increased roles of AI in running company sectors. 

Sumitomo is using AI in research and development. 

Toray is using ML to design resin materials for automobiles, by building a model that searches for the optimal compositions. 

Umicore uses AI to strengthen modeling of integrated process data.  ML and other computational and data sciences are growing areas of expertise within the company. 

The above 13 companies (35% of the totals 37 companies) were the only ones that refer to AI and/or ML in their annual reports.   Based on the above, the use of AI and ML is seen by these 13 companies as valuable in helping their operations. 

Of the 13 companies, eight are European Union (EU) companies, with one being an American company and four Japanese companies.   A higher percentage of EU companies is consistent with Germany's (a EU member) long-term emphasis on increasing digitalization in their industries.  You can read more about this emphasis in a blog I wrote by clicking here. 

Also, in an earlier blog (click here) I wrote about how chemical companies, are increasing digitization.  

Possible Applications of Hyperspectral Sensing in the Chemical Industry

Applications of hyperspectral sensing possibly of use in the chemical industry (based on researching the Internet) include: 

• Analyzing processing problems
• Assisting efforts in spill clean up
• Detecting chemicals in plumes
• Detecting chemicals in the soils in and around chemical plants
• Detecting leaks
• Detecting plastic compositions and impurities in plastic wastes
• Detecting product loss
• Determining pipeline integrity
• Monitoring changes in the chemical plant’s environment
• Monitoring facility and other infrastructure conditions
• Product quality control
• Soil properties of current or potential chemical plant sites
• Vegetation control 

Companies that offer hyperspectral sensors include: 

• Clyde HSI (website)
• Headwall (website)
• Resonon (website)
• Teledyne FLIR (website) 

Hyperspectral sensing explanations and applications are provided at these company websites. 

Recently the following companies have been (or are being) established to pursue the positioning of low-orbiting satellites for the purpose of obtaining hyperspectral data for various applications, such as some of those identified above: 

• Hyspeclq (website)
• Orbital Sidekick (website)
• Pixxel (website) 

Hyperspectral sensors can also be mounted on drones and on tripods (i.e., stationary mounts). 

The use of hyperspectral sensors apparently is greatly increasing in recent years as their capabilities and usefulness grow.   This is not surprising given the many applications that hyperspectral sensors can be used for, such as those listed above.

 

 

Opportunities in the Infrastructure and Jobs Act for Chemical Companies

The recently passed and signed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act identifies integrated vegetation management (IVM) for support.  This support seems intended to further enable IVM successes, including pollinator-friendly practices, while minimizing the adverse effects of herbicides and other current IVM practices. 

A search of ten large, publicly-traded chemical companies websites that market herbicides found that two of them, BASF and Corteva, have well-defined and described IVM programs at their websites.   BASF indicates that its program, in the use of its herbicides, provides a more effective, fully integrated, and environmentally responsible approach to managing vegetation then moving and other mechanical means alone.  Click here to read about BASF’s IVM program. 

Corteva at its site (click here) indicates that its IVM program delivers new broad-spectrum vegetation management, including a new herbicide, offering advanced weed and brush control, with selectivity to desirable species. 

The Infrastructure and Jobs Act offers many provisions important to chemical companies.  Click here to read a Bergeson & Campbell article on those provisions.  These provisions seem to offer chemical companies good opportunities for business.  Being prepared with services and products, as BASF and Corteva seem to be with respect to IVM, should help in taking advantage of such opportunities.

Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert – December 2021

The purpose of this blog is to identify chemical and metal shortages reported on the Internet.  The sources of the information reported here are primarily news releases issued on the Internet.  The issue period of the news releases is December 2021. 

Section I below lists those chemicals and metals that were on the previous month’s Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list and continue to have news releases indicating they are in short supply.  Click here to read the November 2021 Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list. 

Section II lists the new chemicals and metals (not on the November alert).  Also provided is some explanation for the shortage and geographical information.  This blog attempts to list only actual shortage situations – those shortages that are being experienced during the period covered by the news releases.  Chemicals and metals identified in news releases as only being in danger of being in shortage status are not listed. 

Section I. 

• Chemicals produced from petroleum (petrochemicals): United States, European Union; production not keeping up with demand
• Construction materials:  United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom; production not keeping up with demand
• Magnesium: global; supply not keeping up with demand 

Section II.   Shortages Reported in December not found on the Previous Month’s Lists 

• Cardboard boxes: United Kingdom, United States; production not keeping up with demand
• Coal: South Africa; production not keeping up with demand
• Granite: United States; supply not keeping up with demand
• Herbicides: United States; supply not keeping up with demand
• Nitrocellulose membranes: United States; production not keeping with demand
• Printing inks: global; production not keeping up with demand
• Rubber Stencil: United States; supply not keeping up with demand
• Urea: global; supply not keeping up with demand 

Reasons for Section II shortages can be broadly categorized as:  

• Mining not keeping up with demand: none
• Production not keeping up with demand: cardboard boxes; coal; nitrocellulose membranes; printing inks
• Sources no longer available: none
• Insufficient imports:  none
• Supply not keeping up with demand: granite; herbicides; rubber stencil; urea