Process Intensification in the Customized Flow Reactors

The development and intensification of flow reactors are emerging as a new niche area in the pharmaceutical process development. However, development without adequate knowledge of chemistry, kinetics, mass and heat transfer, equipment design, residence time and residence time distribution (RTD) aspects could be difficult to realize the true potential of flow processing development. Understanding these aspects would enable the experimenter to explore options, troubleshoot, and find insights into a wide array of possibilities for continuous flow chemistry development and scaleup. The study provides a systematic approach for flow process development, insights to characterize the equipment, optimize the conditions, and derive meaningful conclusions. The results are presented through appropriate tables and charts to understand the concepts and apply them for various processes. As a case study, a well-known saponification reaction was subjected to represent the performance of the batch versus the flow process (packed bed reactor and tubular reactor) and listed advantages