With the right chemistry, the job never gets boring

Eating less meat, recycling, and sometimes leaving the car at home – sustainability has become a way of life. And even in the workplace, more and more people want to make a difference and be an active part of the green transformation. Especially in CO₂-intensive industries, even small innovations can make a big difference. Henning Geinitz is well aware of this. As a process engineer and Head of Group Oxides and Specialty Chemicals at thyssenkrupp Uhde, he has been developing sustainable processes and plants for the chemical industry for almost 20 years.

The chemical industry is one of the world's most CO₂-intensive sectors. In Germany, it was responsible for around 15 percent of all emissions in 2020. Henning Geinitz and his colleagues at thyssenkrupp Uhde want to change this. With their innovative solutions and green chemicals, the plant engineering specialists have set themselves the goal of creating CO₂-neutral value chains for the future. The personal goal of Henning Geinitz is to continuously improve and transform Uhde's processes, gradually making the chemical industry more sustainable.

Working for a more sustainable chemical industry

The process engineer, who has a PhD from the Technical University of Darmstadt, has been working for thyssenkrupp Uhde for almost 20 years now and he never gets bored. When he joined the company as a project engineer in process engineering in 2003, his main task was to process bids and contracts for polymer plants. "As a process engineer, you oversee the entire process from the initial plant concepts to commissioning at the customer's site," explains Geinitz.

null — Chemical plant engineering involves so many different tasks that, even after 20 years in the business, Henning Geinitz never gets bored.

Over time, his responsibilities have shifted to more coordinative roles ‑ first as a senior engineer and later as a group leader within the company. Today, his focus is on "oxides" and in particular propylene oxide, an important intermediate product in the production of foams used, for example, in the manufacture of mattresses.

Henning Geinitz building the plant for the MOL Group.

Uhde designs and builds plants for the production of propylene oxide and related downstream products. "In my current position, I have several roles. Firstly, as a group leader and process engineering coordinator, I have direct contact with employees and deal with issues such as knowledge management and knowledge transfer. Secondly, I act as a coordinator for contracts and research-related collaborative projects, as well as a know-how provider for various technologies," says Geinitz.

Teamwork makes the dream work

Henning Geinitz enjoys the variety of his work and the interaction between different disciplines. After university he wanted to do something where he could see the results of his labor "in real life". "Hundreds, sometimes thousands of people work together on a plant engineered by Uhde. The cogs all need to mesh to ensure that the plant works as planned," says Geinitz enthusiastically.

For Geinitz, his work at Uhde is particularly fulfilling when it comes to transforming the chemical industry: "In my field, the coming years will see us focus increasingly on sustainable technologies such as green methanol, biomass gasification and the conversion of methanol into chemicals or alternative aviation fuels. This will allow us to make a real contribution to sustainable chemical production."

The world is changing. In line with our mission statement "We create a livable planet", our experts at thyssenkrupp Uhde are constantly working with their technologies and expertise to actively shape the transformation of the chemical industry.

Want to join us and help shape a sustainable industry of tomorrow? Then take a closer look at our careers page and see if the chemistry fits!