The Future Of Flow Chemistry For A More Efficient, Safer And Greener Chemical Industry
Madrid (Spain) - A first symposium on flow reactor technologies in industrial chemistry was organised on October 12th in Madrid by the journal Chemistry Today (Milan, Italy) in coordination with the symposium sponsor, Corning SAS (Fontainebleau, France). Nineteen speakers from the industry and academia discussed the most recent applications and experiences from the world of continuous flow chemistry.
Flow reactors represent a breakthrough in the field of industrial chemical synthesis, enabling fewer reagents, less discarded materials, high throughput, more efficiency, increased safety and reduced environmental impact. Conventional synthesis normally occurs in "batch" reactions where reagents are mixed and react in bulky vessels, often with byproducts that are wasted and sometimes, in the case of dangerous processes or highly toxic reagents, may represent a safety issue. Flow reactors continuously and efficiently stream chemicals together in a highly controlled manner. Given the high level of optimization, significant savings can be realized by bringing together fewer reagents to obtain the same amount of final product achieved by batch.
The presentations were organised in four main sessions: Continuous Flow Reactors in Industrial Production; Best Practices for Continuous Flow Reactors; and Pumps, Control Systems and On-line Analysis. Additionally, two panel discussions were held on future field applications and on real world practical experiences. In the first two sessions and associated panel discussions, experts from Alfa Laval, Lonza, DSM, Sigma Aldrich, PCAS, Astra Zeneca, Corning and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) covered industrial applications of flow chemistry. Many aspects were discussed, including economic impact, cGMP, design of multipurpose plants , and the integration of semi batch systems with continuous flow reactors. The associated panel discussion complimented these contributions by addressing topics identified through open interaction with attendees. The third session delved into best practices for continuous flow reactors as well as the design and conversion of traditional batch productions to continuous flow productions. Experts from Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) and Microinnova discussed the issue of whole process design, and the feasibility of production conversion. The second panel discussion put together experts from Corning, Siegfried, SNPE Matériaux Energétiques, Sanofi and Chemtrix, to provide practical experience from the industry. Batch and flow chemistry systems were compared, set-up examples provided, and pilot plants for green chemistry illustrated. Finally, experts from Fuji Techno Industries Corp., Zeton BV and the University of Washington provided the latest insights on pumps, control systems, and online analysis.
"I found the symposium to be valuable and informative and a great opportunity to engage with leaders in this exciting new field. I look forward to attending next year's event,' said Martin Jönsson, Sales and Marketing Manager, Alfa Laval during the event's closing reception.
"We were very pleased by the sold out response and very engaged participation from more than 140 attendees representing 75 organizations and 20 countries at this first annual symposium", said Gary Calabrese Senior Vice President, Corning Incorporated. "Based on this very strong reaction, we look forward to the opportunity to work with Teknoscienze in planning next year's program."
SOURCE: journal Chemistry