Intensified continuous processes are a key innovation of the last decade for the production of high quality, high value and customer-specific products at competitive prices in a sustainable fashion. To realize the potential of this technology, key steps must be made towards long-term stable, tightly controlled and fully automated production. The goal of the CONSENS project is to advance the continuous production of high-value products meeting high quality demands in flexible intensified continuous plants by introducing novel online sensing equipment and closed-loop control of the key product parameters. CONSENS will focus on flexible continuous plants but the results will be transferable also to large-scale continuous processes. The research and development is driven by industrial case studies from three different areas, spanning the complete value chain of chemical production: complex organic synthesis, speciality polymers, and formulation of complex liquids. Innovative PAT technology will be developed for online concentration measurements (mid-resolution process NMR), for the online non-invasive measurement of rheological properties of complex fluids, and for continuous measurements of fouling in tubular reactors. New model-based adaptive control schemes based on innovative PAT technology will be developed. The project results will be validated in industrial pilot plants for all three types of processes, including validation in production containers that have been developed in the F3 Factory project. Further, methods for sensor failure monitoring, control performance monitoring and engineering support for PAT-based solutions will be developed. The exploitation of the new technologies will be facilitated by a tool for technology evaluation and economic impact assessment. A Cross-sectorial Advisory Board supports the transfer of PAT technologies and adaptive control to neighboring sectors of the European processing industry.

The CLUSTERNANOROAD project is aimed at developing & implementing effective smart specialization strategies in the field of NMBP aligned with cluster development, thus accelerating differentiation and structural change towards a knowledge-based economy for all European regions.In the proposed CLUSTERNANOROAD project, we will implement evidence-based and deliverable-oriented complementary approaches addressing the key actors belonging and influencing the development of RIS3 strategies supported by cluster and relate framework policies with the ultimate aim of supporting innovation in the NMBP thematic area. This project will consult and mobilise regional authorities, actors through the innovation chain and stakeholders throughout Europe in order to help shape strategic priorities for future regional concerted RIS3/cluster policies at a transregional level, which will intensify cluster and business network collaboration across borders and sectoral boundaries in the NMBP area. By reinforcing cluster and business network cooperation and making them the drivers of implementation, leveraging the experience with cluster policies in Smart Specialisation Strategies and supporting the shaping of concerted RIS3 and cluster policies in a more strategic manner, this action will help to overcome the practical challenges implementing the concept of RIS3 across European regions and will assist SMEs to contribute to the emergence of new value chains and for Europe to take a leading position globally.