Dr. Frank's Talk

Sep 10, 2009 - 16:00

Sep 10, 2009 - 16:00

Room No 118 (Creativity Hall)

Seminars

Dr. Frank Schael Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik BTS GmbH Mikroforum Ring 1 55234 Wendelsheim Germany

Micro reaction technology opens new pathways for the development of economical and innovative processes and intensified processes. In the chemical and pharmaceutical industry this technology plays an increasingly important role in research development and production because of its decisive advantages over conventional technology including:  very fast mixing  efficient heat exchange  narrow residence time distribution  fast system response for efficient process control  high yield and selectivity  high level of safety  easy scale-up In this talk the current development status of modular microreactor technology will be highlighted. Furthermore an overview on recent case studies described in the literature with emphasis on the benefits compared to conventional techniques will be given. Own case studies on lab and pilot scale will be discussed in detail which are used to demonstrate specific aspects of micro reactor technology. These studies were carried out with Modular Microreaction Systems development and production tools combining the advantages of microreaction technology with flexibility. The system comprises individual microstructure-equipped modules that can be freely combined. These modules perform basic process operations such as mixing dispersing heat transfer monitoring etc. A wide scope of case studies for process development and intensification will be discussed to underline specific benefits of the microreactor approach for e.g. transfer of batch to continuous processes acceleration of reaction rates improvement of product quality selectivity capacity and reproducibility. These studies include a Wittig reaction a phase transfer catalysis crushing of particles formation of emulsions generation of nanoparticles polymerization and organometallic reaction.