Integration of flow chemistry/process intensification into commercial scale pharmaceutical manufacture has been slow to progress. Progress has been hindered for three main reasons: Risk, Regulatory constraints and designing for flow from day One. The majority of synthetic processes are optimised for batch manufacture and the resulting design space is not transferable to flow chemistry in a straight forward manner. For example batch reactors typically operate at Temperature <140 C and <4 bar pressure. Flow reactors can operate up to 100’s C and pressure up to 300 bar. Though basics of transforming batch reactors data to continuous reactors have been established for a long time, there are still significant uncertainties in overall methodology, particularly with respect to key experimental data and parameters required for developing an adequate model for continuous reactors and what experiments can deliver the required data. The rates of transport processes (mixing, heat and mass transfer) in conventional batch reactors and intensified continuous reactors differ by order(s) of magnitude and therefore complex interactions between intrinsic reaction kinetics, rates of transport processes and the reactor performance change dramatically as one moves from batch to continuous reactors. Janssen is therefore interested in developing appropriate models for interpreting batch and continuous experiments as well as for designing, optimising and scaling-up (or numbering-up or combination of these two) of continuous reactors. The goal is to develop systematic methodology for design and optimisation of continuous reactors using DynoChem, the modelling tool used internally within Janssen. Janssen (represented by Dr Shane Robinson) has therefore approached Prof Vivek Ranade, UL and Dr Robert Elmes, MU of SSPC for formulating a research project to achieve this goal.
Objectives:
• Develop a systematic methodology for identifying and obtaining required experimental data for adequately characterising reaction system(s) under consideration.
• Develop models using Dynochem for interpreting experimental data and obtaining required design parameters.
• Obtain experimental data and design parameters for candidate waste neutralisation systems.
• Develop models for designing and optimising continuous reactors using the parameters obtained from experiments.
• Test and validate the models and methodology for candidate waste neutralisation systems.
Following postdoctoral researcher is working on this project