Ecosynth is the inventor, frontline developer and expert user of the HANU-reactor, a continuous flow reactor designed for scalable photochemistry. 

 

This innovative reactor design brings several distinctive advantages, not only for photochemistry but also for any type of chemistry:

• Decoupling of the mixing intensity from the net flow rate 

Reactions that need a long residence (or irradiation) time are feasible without the need of recirculating. 

• Scalability

A linear scale-up is possible by simply broadening the reactor channel without the need of additional process development as all process parameters remain the same. 

• Visual inspection of the process stream and non-invasive inline reaction monitoring

The ability to visually inspect the process stream at every point of conversion helps in monitoring and understanding a process. As such, the user may discern liquid-liquid flow regimes, identify color changes, detect precipitation, etc. In addition, PAT (e.g. Raman) allows to detect the point of full conversion and can reveal the full kinetic profile of the reaction (including intermediates). 

•  Availability of extra process parameters

Pulsation frequency and amplitude are extra process parameters for optimization. 

•  Multi-phase chemistries

The pulse creates high mixing intensities which is beneficial for multi-phase processes dominated by mass transfer limitations. This is not only applicable for liquid-liquid reactions but also solid-liquid reactions (with heterogeneous catalysts, in situ crystallization, precipitates, etc.) as particles are dragged through the reaction channel without settling. 

• Customization

The reactor unit is available in stainless steel and Hastelloy, but can optionally be coated or made out of a variety of corrosion-resistant materials taking into account the compatibility with the used chemicals. In addition, the design of the mixing elements can be further fine-tuned to adjust to (changing) physico-chemical properties (e.g. viscosity). 

• Remediation

If clogging occurs during operation, it remains invisible with the traditional closed shell reactors.  The HANU-reactor can be easily disassembled which permits efficient physical cleaning.

 

Application notes and more info can be found on the web site of Creaflow

The instrument allows to run electrochemical reactions which are characterized by:

• Reduction of reagent use: electrons are the most green reagents
• Tunable reactions: either by selection of voltage or mode (constant current or constant voltage)

 

 

 

 

The instrument allows a safe running of hydrogenation reactions in the following process window:

• Flow rate range: 0.3 - 3 mL/min
• Temperature range: 10 - 150 °C
• Pressure range: Atmospheric to 100 bar
• Hydrogenation Production range: 0 – 60 cm3/min

 

 

 

 

The available reactors have the following characteristics and process window:

• Reactor volume: 2, 5, 10 ml
• Reactor type: coiled, column, tube in tube (gas-liquid), UV-VIS transparant
• Resistance: PFA, 316 stainless steel or Hastelloy®
• Temperature: -70°C up to 250°C
• Pressure: up to 40 bar