Until recently, the use of microreactors has largely been limited to research and development, as experience in scaling it up to a larger capacity has been lacking. But some of the major pharmaceutical chemical suppliers have started to explore the potential of the technology on a grander scale.
Bayer Technology Services (BTS) said it is acquiring the business and assets of Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik, based in Wendelsheim, because of the promise held by microreactors in improving the yield, safety and cost of chemical production processes.
Microreactors take the form of miniaturised flow channels ranging between several micrometres and 1 millimetre in size, that are connected in parallel to handle the large-volume requirements of speciality chemical producers. Compared to large-volume batch reactors, these microreactors allow an increased transfer of material and heat, thanks to their much larger surface area, and their modular set-up allows the process to be adapted quickly to the varying requirements of different chemical reactions.
And because reactions can take place at higher temperatures, this should reduce the amount of reagents and catalysts used, providing an opportunity for cost savings.
"Microtechnology makes it possible to exert precise control over complex or critical fine chemical reactions," said BTS. "This not only further improves the safety of chemical production processes, it also means that production units can be operated more efficiently and can also be built smaller and less expensively."
BTS is planning to make the newly named Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik BTS (EMB) the core in a network of microtechnology service providers and research institutes to explore and harness the potential of microtechnology.
Dr Olaf Stange has been appointed as new managing director of EMB.
The new business can offer module development, process and product development and the engineering and construction of entire production units, both for use by Bayer and on the external market, said Dr Helmut Mothes, senior vice president, head of process technology at BTS.
Microtechnology up and coming
A number of other projects exploring the use of microtechnology in the pharmaceuticals arena have been announced in recent weeks.
Last month, fellow German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim snapped up another microtechnology firm, STEAG microParts, to get hold of microcomponents for use in a novel inhaler device.
And in August, Swiss chemicals company Clariant set up a dedicated new centre aimed at using microreactors to develop pharmaceutical intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).