Intensification and transposition to continuous of a pharmaceutical synthesis in a heat exchanger-reactor

Dans le domaine de l'intensification des procédés, la technologie des réacteurs-échangeurs occupe une place de choix. De tels équipements combinent opération en continu et efficacités en termes de transfert de chaleur, d'hydrodynamique, de mélange, de transfert de matière et de réaction. Ce travail porte sur l'étude du passage en continu d'une synthèse pharmaceutique dans un réacteur-échangeur innovant en carbure de silicium. La méthodologie suivie est fondée sur des méthodes expérimentales et théoriques, visant à caractériser à la fois l'équipement et l'application chimique. L'objectif a été d'aboutir à un procédé optimal permettant d'augmenter productivité et sélectivité tout en assurant des niveaux de sécurité élevés. Raman.In the field of Process Intensification, manufacturers offer many technologies of heat exchanger reactors in terms of design, material and operating conditions range which make the choice of the optimal solution difficult to be performed. Such apparatuses combine a continuous operating with strongly coupled features of heat transfer, hydrodynamics, mixing, mass transfer and reaction. To assess the feasibility and potentialities of applications carried out in this kind of apparatus, a methodology has been developed and could be divided in three parts: the equipment characterisation, the considered application (physical properties of components, reaction kinetics, heat generated), the suitable intensified process (optimal design) and the associated operating conditions (optimal control). Related to this methodology, the present study aims to transpose to continuous and to intensify a Pierre Fabre’s pharmaceutical application. In fact, this application currently carried out in batch offers productivity limitations that could be get round using a continuous intensified reactor. In this way, a complete reaction characterisation based on calorimetric experiments has been performed and provided to the optimisation tool. The results highlight the need to control the pH level and the necessity to use an on-line analytic method, spectroscopy Raman. This technique leads to an easy transfer of the reaction in continuous in order to intensify it. Optimal conditions have been underlined in order to obtain a productivity of 100%