This April, chemical engineers, process safety professionals, and industry leaders will gather in Dallas, TX, for the 2025 AIChE Spring Meeting and 21st Global Congress on Process Safety (GCPS). As AIChE’s premier event for practicing chemical engineers, the Spring Meeting and GCPS will feature over 200 technical sessions and topical conferences, highlighting the latest innovations shaping the chemical process industries (CPIs).
Among the many topical conferences, the Kister Distillation Symposium stands out as a must-attend event for those passionate about distillation technology, process optimization, and safety. With a record-breaking 54 presentations, the symposium will explore cutting-edge developments in tray equipment, packing, process optimization, and tower safety, with a strong emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Engineers will gain insights into practical strategies for improving energy efficiency, minimizing environmental impact, and leveraging advanced technologies.
To give you an inside look at what’s in store, we sat down with Henry Kister, a leading expert in distillation, to discuss the key themes, innovations, and industry-shaping discussions happening at this year’s symposium. Watch the video or read the full interview below.
What sets the Kister Distillation Symposium apart from other symposia?
June of this year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of McCabe & Thiele's landmark paper. There is probably no more universal symbol of chemical engineering than an x-y diagram with stages stepped off. To celebrate this very special event, AIChE is having the largest and very best distillation symposium ever held in the Western Hemisphere. Our record-breaking symposium has 54 presentations, but what's more important is that the quality of the papers in this symposium is phenomenal and ranks among the very best that we have had in any distillation symposium.
What key theme or challenge does the symposium focus on?
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is at the heart of our symposium. We have two full sessions dedicated to the energy transition alone, guiding us on what we can do as engineers to reduce the carbon footprint. They will highlight landmark technologies like heat pumps, dividing wall columns, optimized preheat, and advanced tray and packing technologies. Unlike many costly technologies, the ones here not only largely reduce the carbon footprint, but also save money for their users.
What are some topics that will be discussed during the symposium?
The symposium will cover a wide range of critical topics in distillation, with a strong focus on sustainability and innovation. A dedicated session will highlight advancements in high-capacity and high-efficiency trays and packings, honoring the legacy of Professor Ken Porter and exploring their role in reducing the carbon footprint. Tower revamps will also be a key focus, with discussions on how strategic upgrades can enhance efficiency while minimizing environmental impact compared to new plant construction.
Presentations will showcase real-world case studies on mitigating fouling, optimizing controls, and leveraging AI for heat exchanger network cleaning. Additionally, a session on modeling and simulation will introduce new predictive models for structured packing performance, direct contact heat transfer, and surface tension analysis. Troubleshooting will be another critical area of discussion, emphasizing the importance of diagnosing and resolving plant inefficiencies to improve overall performance and sustainability.
Who are the main speakers?
At our symposium, we feature outstanding papers from both industry and academia, presented by some of today’s legends in the field alongside promising young engineers who will turn into tomorrow’s top professionals. Our speakers and audience are friendly, and we especially encourage younger engineers to participate, ask questions, and share their ideas. There are no “stupid” questions here—every contribution is welcome. After each presentation, we’ll have a five-minute Q&A session where everyone can participate and contribute ideas. With authors from 12 different countries, we extend a warm welcome to all attendees, near and far, and wish everyone a truly enjoyable and enlightening symposium.
What is the key takeaway from the symposium?
We hope that the ideas and insights shared at our symposium will help solve today’s challenges, prevent future ones, and pave the way toward reducing the carbon footprint of our industry. See you at the symposium!
Learn more about the 2025 Spring Meeting and 21st GCPS.
Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook | #GCPS #AIChESpring