CPFD Software is proud to announce that, together with partners EvoPhase and the University of Birmingham, our joint project “Autonomous Design of Reactors using AI” has been selected as a finalist in the 2025 IChemE Global Awards under the Oil, Gas and Energy Transition category.
Established in 1994, the IChemE Global Awards are recognized worldwide as one of the highest honors in the field of chemical and process engineering. The Awards celebrate excellence, innovation, and professional achievement across 16 categories, highlighting work that advances sustainability, safety, and the broader role of chemical engineering in society. Winners will be announced at the IChemE Global Awards Dinner on November 20, 2025, in Manchester, UK.
AI-Driven Barracuda for Energy and Industry
The finalist entry introduces EvoReactor, a new AI-driven virtual reactor tool developed through close collaboration between CPFD Software, EvoPhase, and the University of Birmingham. EvoReactor combines physics-based simulation, evolutionary AI, and programmatic CAD to autonomously explore and optimize reactor designs.
At its core lies CPFD’s Barracuda Virtual Reactor, the industry-standard simulation software for modeling multiphase fluidized bed reactors used across refining, cement, and diverse energy and materials sectors. EvoPhase’s evolutionary algorithm technology extends this capability, enabling autonomous “evolution” of reactor designs to improve performance far beyond traditional limits.
Unlike conventional or generative AI approaches that depend on historical training data, EvoReactor’s stochastic evolutionary process allows it to discover entirely new reactor configurations. In a recent demonstration, this approach achieved a 211% improvement in reactor efficiency compared with a standard design, illustrating its transformative potential for energy-intensive processes
Advancing the Energy Transition
EvoReactor directly supports the development of cleaner, more efficient technologies across a wide range of applications, including:
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- Renewable fuel production
- Carbon capture and utilization
- Hydrogen generation
- Waste recycling and gasification
- Thermal energy storage
- Processing of critical materials such as lithium, graphite, and advanced nuclear fuels
By coupling virtual experimentation with AI-driven optimization, EvoReactor dramatically reduces development time, cost, and risk, helping industry accelerate progress toward Net Zero while improving process efficiency and sustainability.
Celebrating Engineering Excellence
CPFD Software is honored to be recognized alongside EvoPhase, the University of Birmingham, and other outstanding finalists including ExxonMobil, Flowchem, INEOS, RJM Corporation, and Saudi Aramco.
This recognition underscores how cross-sector collaboration between software innovators, AI specialists, and academic researchers can drive meaningful change in the way industrial technologies are designed and optimized.