TAC Annual Meeting 2026

Join us for the PSRI 2026 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, from June 22 to June 24, 2026, hosted at The Wade Hotel, a premier venue offering effortless luxury and stunning views of Lake Michigan. This event is a unique opportunity for employees of PSRI Member Companies to engage with cutting-edge research, collaborate with industry leaders, and contribute to the future of fluidization and particle technology. The meeting includes a mix of technical presentations, committee meetings, networking opportunities, and a facility tour, designed to foster innovation and collaboration.

Event Highlights: PSRI Annual Meeting 2026

Monday, June 22, 2026

•  Safety Advisory Committee Meeting: PSRI Offices, Chicago (open to all attendees).
  • Register for the SAC Meeting here (Required)
  • Detailed Schedule:
    • 8:30–9:00 AM: Shuttle – The Wade Hotel to PSRI.
    • 9:00–9:30 AM: Breakfast.
    • 9:30 AM–12:00 PM: Meeting.
    • 12:00–12:45 PM: Lunch.
    • 12:45–1:15 PM: Shuttle – PSRI to The Wade Hotel.
• PSRI Facility Tour: Open to registered attendees (safety guidelines apply).
  • Detailed Schedule:
    • 1:30–2:00 PM: Shuttle – The Wade Hotel to PSRI.
    • 2:00–3:30 PM: Tour.
    • 3:30–4:00 PM: Shuttle – PSRI to The Wade Hotel.
• Executive Committee Meeting: PSRI Offices, Chicago 
  • Open only to Exeuctive Committee Members. 
  • Seperate Registration required. 

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

• Technical Advisory Committee Meeting: The Wade Hotel (open to all PSRI Member Company employees).
  • Detailed Schedule:
    • 7:00–8:00 AM: Breakfast & Registration.
    • 8:00 AM–10:15 AM: Sessions (updates on ongoing research programs, new initiatives, and safety insights).
    • 10:15–10:40 AM: Break.
    • 10:40 AM–12:00 PM: Sessions.
    • 12:00–1:00 PM: Lunch.
    • 2:30–2:55 PM: Break.
    • 2:55–5:00 PM: Sessions.
    • Guest Speaker: Jan Harmsen, Harmsen Consultancy BV, The Netherlands
      • Sustainable Industrial Process Innovation and Scale-up
• Evening Networking Dinner:
  • Schedule: 6:00–9:00 PM – Dinner, drinks, and fun.
  • Location: Gino's East, 3rd Floor Rooftop Terrace (162 E. Superior St., Chicago, IL 60611).
  • Directions: Walking distance of 10 minutes (0.5 miles) from The Wade Hotel.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

• Continuation of Technical Advisory Committee Meeting: The Wade Hotel.
  • Detailed Schedule:
    • 7:00–8:00 AM: Breakfast.
    • 8:00 AM–10:15 AM: Sessions (topics include cyclone efficiency, solids blending, and fluorescence probe applications, presented by our expert team).
    • 10:15–10:40 AM: Break.
    • 10:40 AM–12:00 PM: Sessions.
    • 12:00–1:00 PM: Lunch.
    • 1:00–2:00 PM: Board of Directors Meeting (includes elections and open discussion session).
    • 2:00–3:15 PM: Afternoon Workshop (topic TBD).
    • 3:15–3:45 PM: Break / End of PSRI Program

• CPFD Meeting: A separate meeting starting at 3:45 PM at The Wade Hotel (open to PSRI attendees who wish to stay, seperate registration required). More Information

Accommodations

The Wade Hotel, the event venue for the Technical Advisory Committee Meeting, offers a discounted room block rate for attendees, available for a few days before and after the event. Secure your reservation early to enjoy the hotel’s sophisticated amenities and prime waterfront location. Booking details are available here.

https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1746827268266&key=GRP&guestreslink2=true&app=resvlink

Guest Talk: Sustainable Industrial Process Innovation and Scale-up

Sustainable Industrial Process Innovation and Scale-up is a hot topic for companies in view of contributing to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and to Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. To these ends many new process ideas are generated by established companies, as well as by start-ups. The big question is: How to rapidly develop these ideas and have a successful commercial scale implementation. Presently half of all commercial scale process start-ups fail, because of poor concept design, poor process development, wrong engineering, and, or, insufficient start-up preparation.
The talk will present critical success factors for all innovation stages, ideation, concept, feasibility, development, EPC, and start-up. The impact of process intensification concept design to obtain low cost processes, which are also more reliable to scale-up will be illustrated by an industrial biofuels process development, with successful commercial scale implementation.

Jan Harmsen, is an independent sustainable process innovation consultant of Harmsen Consultancy. He has more than 40 years of industrial experience in research, development, design, and commercial scale implementation of processes in oil & gas, chemicals, biofuels, minerals and other. He has been a part-time professor of sustainable chemical technology at Delft Technical University. He authored recent books relevant to the lecture topic: [1] Jan Harmsen, Industrial Process Scale-up, 2nd revised Edition - A Practical Innovation Guide from Idea to Commercial Implementation, Elsevier, Amsterdam (2019). [2] Jan Harmsen, André B. de Haan, P.L.J Swinkels, Product and Process Design - Driving Sustainable Innovation, DEGRUYTER, 2nd revised edition, Berlin (2024). [3] Harmsen, Jan; Verkerk, Maarten. Process Intensification: Breakthrough in Design, Industrial Innovation Practices, and Education. De Gruyter, Berlin, (2020).

Jan Harmsen Harmsen Consultancy BV The Netherlands

CPFD Software 2026 Barracuda Virtual Reactor Users' Conference

PSRI is delighted to share that our modeling partner, CPFD Software, will host their biennial Barracuda Virtual Reactor Users' Conference at the same venue as the PSRI Annual Meeting. This event provides valuable insights into computational particle fluid dynamics and is open to all PSRI member companies at no cost, whether or not you use Barracuda software.

Maximize your trip by attending both the PSRI Annual Meeting and the CPFD Users' Conference. Register separately for the CPFD event via their website. Extend your stay at The Wade Hotel Chicago using the discounted hotel block rate reserved for the PSRI Annual Meeting; a single reservation covers both events.

Registration

There is no cost for registration or attendance for PSRI Member Company employees, though attendees are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements.

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with industry experts, explore innovative research, and network with peers in the vibrant setting of Chicago. Stay tuned for the full agenda and additional details!

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!

Safety Information for PSRI Tour

• Closed Toe Shoes required (No High-Heals, Crocks, Sandals, etc)
• Pants Required (No Skirts, Shorts, Kilts, etc)
• We will provide the following safety items: 
  • Hard Hat (Return to PSRI after tour)
  • Safety Glasses (You Keep)
  • Hearing Protection (You Keep)
• Strictly NO Photography or Videography is allowed on the tour. 
• There are stairs involved in the tour. 
• Those afraid of heights should opt out of the tour.