Objective
Cost and resource effectiveness of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals production rely largely on the level of process control. However, the chemical industry is currently not able to grasp full control over the chemical reactions in these segments where batch reactors dominate, resulting in high production costs and a serious environmental burden due to the use of excessive amounts of raw material and significant downstream waste streams. There is thus a strong need for novel tools that allow for fine-tuned reaction conditions in chemical production. Micro management of pharmaceutical and fine chemical production can potentially lead to elevated profit margins and environment-friendlier operations. A company that can enable this shift will therefore be able to work with leading chemical firms and to win a strong market position. It is exactly this challenge that we face by translating our ERC research results towards a business proposition for the chemical industry.
The ERC funded work of Prof. Schouten et al. has led to the development of a novel reactor type that facilitates optimal production conditions for a broad range of chemicals. The innovative power is advocated by research results that clearly show that the device creates the opportunity to downsize industrial separators and reactors by a factor of 10 to 100; that the reaction time is reduced up to 99%; that impurity levels are hugely lowered and that downstream purification results in much smaller waste streams. The patented technology thus addresses all the main issues related to batch reactors and forms a sound platform for commercialisation. The ERC Proof of Concept study will allow us to assess the options for marketing and to set up a concrete business plan for a spin-off company.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
ERC-2011-PoC
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
CSA-SA(POC) - Supporting action (Proof of Concept)Host institution
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands