Project R-4866

Intensification and scaling up of organic reactions by implementing micro-and milli flow reactors (Research)

Literature studies indicate that the yield and product purity of various processes in the fine chemical industry involved in chemical, pharmaceutical and food products can be significantly improved by switching from batch to miniaturized flow processes, in particular through the implementation of micro-and milli-flow reactors. Better mass and heat transport in these systems leads to faster responses and higher product quality. Moreover, the costly and environmentally damaging operations, such as cleaning and rinsing typical for batch processes can be prevented by the transition from batch to a continuous process. Despite these advantages, the use of miniaturized flow processes remains very limited in the Flemish industry. Industrial partners indicate that a lack of knowledge and experience in the companies itself with successful implementations of flow reactors plays a major role in this. Additionally the current economic climate and the previous investments in less efficient installations hinder the introduction of this competitive technology. This project therefore aims to introduce flow chemistry in industry realized by i ) identifying and critically evaluate existing commercial systems available ii ) the evaluation of the effect of the deployment of new, potentially profitable reactors iii ) the development of a limited screening set-up and quantitative models to assess the technological , environmental and economic potential of the development of industrial scale-up to the desired volume by milli flow technology and parallelization into the required number of units and this on the basis of a number of relevant case studies provided by the field. The project provides for the distribution of generic project results through scientific publications , literature , networking events , conferences and fairs. Students, participating in education at the partner organizations will learn the theory, visit labs and perform projects in which they work with flow equipment. In addition, the research set flow equipment will be made available via ' Open Infrastructure ' channels to promote the innovative strength of Flemish companies

01 October 2013 - 30 September 2015