Accelerating chemical process & production utilising “Fast Batch” reactor technology

Until recently there was only two alternatives for chemical production these being Batch or Flow, each having their own unique benefits and drawbacks. However, a new entrant to this processing sector has emerged which offers the flexibility and familiarity of Batch combined with the performance and efficiency of Flow. This “Fast Batch” technology enables the chemical processing performance of lab scales at production scale, and introduces chemical production plant wide opportunities in efficiency, flexibility, productivity, and operating costs. To demonstrate the chemical potential of this new technology, the ReactorPy Python package has been developed to kinetically model reaction processes under dynamic thermal and dosing conditions. After an introduction to the key physical and mechanical properties of the technology, we will present a series of case studies to showcase opportunities to accelerate and control chemical reactions and processes at production scale. “Fast Batch” reactor technology can be retrofit into existing batch plants and maintains compatibility with existing batch mode standard operating procedures. It is expected that this technology will challenge the long-held perceptions of what can, and cannot be scaled up to a production process from typical research scales.