the United States are the preferred overseas partners, followed by Finland and Japan and the United Kingdom. Figure .3: Applicant origin Technological specialisation Australia had a high level of specialisation in chemical engineering and ranked thirteenth, which is amongst the highest ranking of the Australian advanced manufacturing sectors (Figure 3.4). As a comparison, Switzerland, who has a similar number of applications to Australia, ranked twenty-fifth. Also, the most active countries in this technology rank lower than Australia; Germany ranks seventeenth, USA ranks twenty-eighth and Japan ranks thirty-second. Figure .4: Relative Specialisation Index for chemical engineering Chemical engineering technologies There were a diverse range of technologies that were identified from the Australian chemical engineering PCT applications. Applications were broken down into: Process engineering design, control and operation of plants, in particular separation and – mixing of items and materials; material state changing Waste treatment disposal of solid waste, treatment of waste water and sewage – Casting; power metallurgy continuous casting, ingots, working of metallic powder – Energy gas, coke, cracking hydrocarbon oils – Explosives explosive charges and blasting – Surface cleaning cleaning using tools, brushes, liquid , steam, air or electrostatic means – Thermal processes and apparatus combustion, burners, furnaces, kilns and ovens – Paper manufacturing raw materials, cellulose, treatment of material, machines for making – paper Chemical containment vessels for holding compressed or liquefied gases, pipe lines – Nuclear reactors and processing fusion reactions, protection against radiation and plasma – technique A detailed breakdown of the CPC marks and the technology breakdown can be found in Appendix C. Process engineering was the primary focus of Australian chemical engineering, making up 948 or 54 per cent of all applications (Figure 3.5). Waste treatment had 280 applications with the rest of the sector consisting of a large number of technology categories with a relatively small share. Figure .5: Australian PCT applications by technology category
the United States are the preferred overseas partners, followed by Finland and Japan and the United Kingdom. Figure .3: Applicant origin Technological specialisation Australia had a high level of specialisation in chemical engineering and ranked thirteenth, which is amongst the highest ranking of the Australian advanced manufacturing sectors (Figure 3.4). As a comparison, Switzerland, who has a similar number of applications to Australia, ranked twenty-fifth. Also, the most active countries in this technology rank lower than Australia; Germany ranks seventeenth, USA ranks twenty-eighth and Japan ranks thirty-second. Figure .4: Relative Specialisation Index for chemical engineering Chemical engineering technologies There were a diverse range of technologies that were identified from the Australian chemical engineering PCT applications. Applications were broken down into: Process engineering – design, control and operation of plants, in particular separation and mixing of items and materials; material state changing Waste treatment – disposal of solid waste, treatment of waste water and sewage Casting; power metallurgy – continuous casting, ingots, working of metallic powder Energy – gas, coke, cracking hydrocarbon oils Explosives – explosive charges and blasting Surface cleaning – cleaning using tools, brushes, liquid , steam, air or electrostatic means Thermal processes and apparatus – combustion, burners, furnaces, kilns and ovens Paper manufacturing – raw materials, cellulose, treatment of material, machines for making paper Chemical containment – vessels for holding compressed or liquefied gases, pipe lines Nuclear reactors and processing – fusion reactions, protection against radiation and plasma technique A detailed breakdown of the CPC marks and the technology breakdown can be found in Appendix C. Process engineering was the primary focus of Australian chemical engineering, making up 948 or 54 per cent of all applications (Figure 3.5). Waste treatment had 280 applications with the rest of the sector consisting of a large number of technology categories with a relatively small share. Figure .5: Australian PCT applications by technology category