Problem Description
One of our customers, a large manufacturer of flow reactors in the (pharma) industry, was looking for a suitable testing site to further develop a highly exothermic process using dangerous chemicals. They had had success in small scale research and wanted to optimize and scale up the process. However, after having requested access to testing facilities of two renowned Duch testing institutes without success, the end customer for whom the process was being developed, was starting to get nervous. At Flowid, we have the perfect facilities and setup to test such aggressive processes, so we started a pilot process with the customer. Within one month, the required permits were obtained and we had the FlowFlex setup ready for testing with the reaction in question. After a visit to our pilot labs at Flowid, the end client was very impressed with the facilities and gave approval for testing.
After some test runs, we determined that the problem was in the choice of pumps. The original developer either did not possess the knowledge and expertise to select the right type of pump or did not have access to them. Within three days, the testing was completed and the optimum process components were selected.
Standard Solution
In this situation, no standard solution was available: no other facilities were well-equipped enough to accommodate this specific type of reaction and carry out the tests required to determine the optimum process.
Flowid Solution
A combination of excellent facilities in the Pilot Lab and advanced, flexible technology.
• SpinPro
• FlowFlex setup consisting of:
• Control module
• Reactor module
• Various pump modules for testing
• Highly experienced process operators/chemical engineers
Cost Comparison
The testing project at Flowid cost around 10.000 euros (FlowFlex setup hire and staffing). If the client had not been able to resolve their pump issues, they might have had to abort the project and write off all investments into this process.
Final Conclusion
The client was able to test their process and get the results they needed to continue developing their process, all within 3 days of testing. The entire project took 2 weeks to complete.
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