Can you explain the unique aspects of Chemium’s continuous flow technology for producing organometallics, specifically Grignard reagents?
Continuous flow processes are known to bring several benefits/features to chemical manufacturing, the most common ones being: enhanced safety thanks to the limited reactor volumes and temperature regulation, tight reaction control leading to increased efficiency and reduction of wastes, energy efficiency, lower footprint, …
The drawback of these types of processes, however, is that they are usually unsuitable for reactions involving solids. Hence, the ability of the MgFlow technology to handle solids, both in the raw materials (metal turnings) and final products (precipitates in the solution in some cases), is a unique feature, especially considering that it can run at a multi tons scale for weeks without interruption.
How does the MgFlow® technology enhance safety and efficiency compared to traditional batch processes?
Batch Grignard reagents manufacturing often requires a tricky initiation phase prone to runaway. I like to say that the MgFlow technology, in the opposite, is self-activated. In that way, contamination by the activator (typically iodine) and risk of runaway are avoided.
What are the main features and advantages of the MgFlow® technology in terms of chemical quality and operational efficiency?
On the physical and chemical point of view, the MgFlow technology presents very different parameters compared to a batch process. The ones having the biggest influence on the chemistry are the huge magnesium excess at any moment in the reaction, the reactor’s pressure resistance, hence its ability to reach temperatures higher than solvent’s boiling point, the low residence time (minutes scale) as well as an excellent mixing capacity. These characteristics already demonstrated their benefits to reduce by-products (i.e. Wurtz) in some applications.
The MgFlow technology is also fully automated. More than bringing operational efficiency, it also increases the safety by reducing operator’s exposure to the products and decreases the risk of human errors during manipulations.
In what ways does the innovative reactor design of MgFlow® contribute to the safety and scalability of the production process?
The synthesis of Grignard reagents is highly exothermic. The main challenge for safety and scalability of such reaction is the ability to evacuate the reaction energy. Our technology relies on an externalized heat removal, which enables an unlimited scale-up (no surface-to-volume limitation).
Additionally, process parameters (residence time, temperature, magnesium excess, flows, …) remain constant at any scale, which ensures quality consistency from grams to tons. I like to say that on the MgFlow technology, the “experience of the molecule” is the same, no matter the production scale.
Chemium offers several business models for its clients. Can you describe the key models and how they cater to different customer needs?
Grignard reagent users either source the ready-to-use solution (what we call the “merchant market” usually observed in pharma and F&F industries, where volumes are small to medium), or they produce the reagent by themselves (the “captive market” usually observed in large scale applications such as large pharma projects, or in the agrochemical industry).
To address the merchant market, we’ve partnered with Valsynthese and setup a multi-hundreds of tons production facility at Valsynthese’s plant in Switzerland. Chemium’s production unit, which has been running for the past year mainly for supplying European customers, is hosted and run by Valsynthese through a manufacturing services agreement.
For the captive market, we can also provide customers with a dedicated unit, for an on-site production of Grignard reagents. This eliminates the dangerous good’s logistic burdens and associated costs. This business model also helps in case of unstable Grignard reagents, which needs to be consumed shortly after synthesis.
In such model, the production unit is designed based on customer’s volume requirements, and is supplied on a lease or buy basis, depending on project needs and customer’s preference.
What brings this partnership with Valsynthese?
More than simply supplying Grignard reagents solutions, this partnership strives to provide integrated chemical synthesis around Grignard chemistry (N-1 or N+1 steps). For example, in the case of synthesis sequences, Grignard reagent produced on MgFlow can be used directly by Valsynthese and converted in the next synthesis step(s) to meet a customer’s need, reducing handling and transportation of dangerous Grignard reagents as intermediates.
How does Chemium customize Grignard solutions for its clients, and what are the typical turnaround times for custom orders?
The development of new Grignard reagents is swift, largely due to the seamless scalability of our process. This efficiency is further enhanced by our diverse range of production unit scales, which are utilized throughout the development phases. We usually observe a 4 to 8 weeks time to bring a project from laboratory experiments to pilot plant trials and full-scale manufacturing.
What are the future development plans for the MgFlow® technology? Are there any upcoming innovations or improvements in the pipeline?
We are currently working on continuous downstream consumption of Grignard reagents, aiming at its integration in our existing technology. This will dramatically decrease the risk associated with storage and use of Grignard reagents.
In a second time, we intend to use and adapt our technology for the production of additional organometallics (Zinc-, Tin-, Li- based for example).
What role does data collection and analysis play in Chemium’s ongoing development and optimization of its manufacturing processes?
The data generated from each production campaigns, on each production units are archived in Chemium’s data base. The data are analysed after production, aiming at continuous improvement and customer support. Chemium is also using these data to build an Advanced Process Control (APC). This software add-on aims at automatically correcting the production parameters in case of deviation.
Gauthier Croix
