Flow Chemistry Europe 2018: Technologies, Companies and Commercialization Agenda

Morning Coffee, Tea, Breakfast Pastries and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Developing Scalable Photochemical Reactions in Flow
Emily Corcoran, Senior Scientist, Enabling Technologies, Process Chemistry, MSD, United States of America

In recent years, there has been a growing interest within the pharmaceutical industry in utilizing photochemical transformations for the synthesis of high value products. As most photochemical reactions require a high surface area to volume ratio for good efficiency, the utilization of these transformations on large scale is most amenable to flow.  This presentation will highlight the ongoing efforts of the flow chemistry team at MSD toward developing scalable photochemical reactions in flow and their application in specific case studies.

Boosting Multistep Synthetic Organic Chemistry with Corning® Advanced-Flow Reactors
Jean-Christophe Monbaliu, Lecturer, Center for Integrated Technology and Organic Synthesis, University of Liège

In this lecture, we will discuss some of the most fascinating aspects of multistep continuous-flow chemistry using continuous mesofluidic reactors for the synthesis of high-value added organic targets. Selected examples include the preparation of active pharmaceuticals via unstable intermediates, and illustrate the photochemical generation and use of singlet oxygen.

Process Intensification of Hydrogenation Reactions in Catalyst-coated Tube Reactors
Nikolay Cherkasov, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Stoli Catalysts Ltd., United Kingdom

Is kilo-scale hydrogenation over a few milligrams of noble metal catalyst possible? We overview efficiency, scalability and long term operation of the catalyst-coated tube reactors for hydrogenation reactions.

Coffee Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Heterogeneous Catalytic Hydrogenations in Flow
Viktor Gyollai, Senior Flow Chemist, AM Technology

Continuous hydrogenation has inherent cost, performance and safety advantages. These stem from the use of smaller equipment and reduced inventory of gas under pressure. This concept is not new and continuous packed bed systems have been used for many decades in some industries. Flow hydrogenation where catalyst particles flow with the process material offers significant advantages, however, in terms of temperature control and greater catalyst choice. Proof of principle of such methods can be demonstrated by flowing gas, process fluid and catalyst particles through a reactor. Although the method works well over short cycle times, accumulation and blockage is inevitable at some point. Sustained continuous hydrogenation requires a flow pattern where liquid and catalyst flow down through the reactor and hydrogen flows up. This ensures uniform distribution of gas, liquids and solids and can operate for days or weeks without interruption. It also presents formidable technical challenges relating to pumps, gas disengagement, flow control and pumping. These problems however are solvable using novel hardware solutions and this presentation covers development work and lab studies which have been in progress for over 5 years.

Photochemical Reactor Design: Technological and Safety Aspects
Alex Voronov, Head of R&D, Peschl Ultraviolet GmbH

The photochemical reactors based on Medium Pressure Mercury and Low Pressure Mercury/Amalgam Lamps are well known since decades and widely used in the modern chemical technologies. In many cases UV-initiated reactions are running in a flammable and volatile liquids with a low evaporation temperature. In the presentation the lamp physics, lamp parameters and technique in terms of safety factors are analyzed. It is shown that due to the lamp physics the lamp operation in an industrial photochemical reactor without special measures can be connected with some risks, e.g. an explosion or fire risk.  The analysis of the physical reasons for these risks leads to some important conclusions which give a clear way for the reactor configuration and design. Some design solutions with APEX certification are presented and discussed.

All in One – Advanced Technologies for Complex Low Cost Microfluidic Devices in Glass, Silicon and Quartz
Klaus Kadel, Business Development, Little Things Factory GmbH

The Little Things Factory covers the whole portfolio to set up new functionalities for microfluidic systems in glass and we describe recent innovations in this field.  His talk will introduce new possibilities to combine microfluidics with hermetically sealed electrical connectors for various applications that needs electrodes in contact with fluids or electrodes isolated from fluids.

Closed Loop Automation of Continuous Flow Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation
Linda Arsenjuk, Research Associate in the Laboratory of Chemical Reaction Engineering, Technical University Dortmund, Germany

A liquid-liquid phase separator is presented, which is combined with sensors and actuators to yield a closed loop control system. It automatically finds the operating point of complete phase separation and corrects changes in separation efficiency caused by external disturbances.

Networking Lunch in the Exhibit Hall -- Meet the Exhibitors and View Posters