Application Report on Operating Cellular Process Chemistry Plants in Fine Chemical and Contract Manufacturing Industries

Abstract

Only a few microreaction manufacturing plants are being operated to date. The performance of two different microreaction manufacturing plants is discussed, one in a dedicated application, the other in a multi-purpose environment. Strategies to address the major design and operating challenges for microreactor manufacturing plants to equipartition starting material streams into parallel reaction chambers throughout manufacturing operation are provided for demanding liquid/liquid-reactions. The importance of minimizing the pressure drop variances between different microreactors or channels by rigorous microreactor fabrication process control is described. A cost/performance balanced microreactor manufacturing strategy is suggested, and the ease of assessing trade-off decisions is addressed for different manufacturing systems by the use of a case study involving a diffusion controlled Grignard reaction.

Development of an Industrial Multi‐Injection Microreactor for Fast and Exothermic Reactions – Part II

“…To study the heat exchange principles, a very rapid and exothermic reaction was selected consisting of a Grignard reagent reacting with an acyl chloride (see Scheme 1). Such Grignard reactions are interesting to study [10,21]. For example, Cahiez and Laboue described the reaction of acyl chlorides and Grignard reagents in the presence of catalytic amounts of manganese chloride and copper (I) chloride [22].…”

Heat Pipe‐Cooled Microstructured Reactor Concept for Highly Exothermal Ionic Liquid Syntheses

“…5). For low as well as for high temperatures the major heat is released at the first 20 % of the channel length which is in accordance with a second-order kinetics [27]. Hot spots of more than 110°C were detected without the turned-on fan (E).…”

Novel Process Windows – A Contribution to More Sustainable Chemistry?

“…Micro-structured equipment can be used in a wide range of reactions, e.g., liquid, gas, gas-liquid, solid or even multiple-phase reactions. For production, the number of micro-reactors could be increased by simple replication, as demonstrated recently by CPC and discussed by Schwalbe et al [7]. Life cycle assessments show that the use of micro-reactors can involve a reduction of waste, emissions, required feedstock and an increase in safety, product-quality and yield.…”