FLOW CHEMISTRY
Table 1- Capex & opex comparisons manufacturing 6,000 tonnes / year of R-NO 3
: AFR technology( G4 & G5 Reactors) vs. batch process Note: Corning’ s G4 and G5 reactors have flow throughput of 2,000 and 10,000 tonnes / year respectively. To produce 6,000 tonnes / year of R-NO3 requires six G4 or two G5 reactors installed in parallel technology is highly automated, helping to reduce manual operation and personnel needs
• 10-50 % overall operational cost reduction: In traditional batch process, high energy consumption, low equipment utilisation and additional safety measures for hazardous reactions can drive up costs. Using AFR technology, the end-to-end continuous flow improves raw materials utilisation, energy efficiency through optimised heat exchange and material mixing, helping to reduce downtime, energy use, and waste generation. The reactor system also enhances safety for hazardous reactions temperature, bringing energy savings. In addition, AFR often eliminates the need for a pilot-scale process and product validations due to its seamless scale-up features.
Unique to Corning’ s flow reactors are specialised flow channels with heart-shaped connected cells. This patented design utilised within AFR fluidic modules enables intense mixing with a lower pressure-drop and better heat exchange, with faster, more consistent temperature control of the reactor system.
AFR’ s industrial installations are made for a variety of chemistries, including nitration, fluorination and bromination, among others. Over the last decade, Corning has installed more than 200 such systems into customer operations worldwide, mainly in the fine, pharma, agrochemical and advanced materials sectors. Of these, around 30 % are focused on nitration chemistries and around 10 % on oxidation chemistries. The rest are a mix across a wide spectrum of chemistries( Figure 1).
AFR industrial vs. batch
AFR industrial reactor processes offer various benefits over traditional batch processes:
• 50-90 % footprint reduction: Large reactors and supporting equipment in traditional batch processes necessitate a substantial plant footprint, particularly for large-scale production. G4 and G5 reactors occupy a much smaller footprint while delivering high throughput reactions
• 50-90 % reduced personnel requirements: Traditional batch processes require more staff for equipment operation, process monitoring, and maintenance due to their intermittent nature and manual intervention needs. AFR
Case study: R-NO 3
One example of a challenging chemistry that Corning’ s AFR technology can help produce is
R-NO 3
, a chemical additive used in diesel fuel to boost its cetane number and thus enhance ignition quality, combustion efficiency and overall engine performance. The following example showcases data from an existing customer use case from several years ago in Shandong province, China. The production of
R-NO 3
( Figure 2) involves several complexities including:
• Safety concerns: The nitration process of alcohol R-OH with mixed nitric and sulphuric acid can lead to significant exothermic reactions that are hard to control in a batch process and pose potential safety concerns
• Reaction control: Precise temperature and residence times are essential to ensure purity and
Table 2- Key process performance matrix: G5 reactor vs. batch processes
Performance matrix |
GS continuous process |
Batch process |
Yield improvement |
86 % |
78 % |
Solid waste reduction |
50 % |
100 % |
Production staff |
50 % |
100 % |
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