Corning® Advanced-Flow™ Reactors Introduce New Product and Announce Collaboration with Magritek at ACHEMA 2018 World Forum | Advanced-Flow Reactor Technology | Corning

FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Corning recently introduced the Corning^® G3 photo reactor as the newest product available in its Advanced Flow^™ reactor (AFR) portfolio at the ACHEMA 2018 world forum in Frankfurt, Germany.

The G3 photo reactor is the first advanced, continuous flow reactor dedicated to photochemical production that combines high chemical durability, thermal control, and outstanding mixing with LED illumination panels.

“Our G3 photo reactor is an ideal solution for customers who want to achieve large tonnage photochemical production,” said Dr. Yi Jiang, global business director, Corning Reactor Technologies.  “Adding the G3 photo reactor extends our photo reactor portfolio, which also includes the G1 photo reactor and Lab Photo Reactor.  This suite of photo-flow reactor products helps our customers expand the horizon of photochemistry applications and implement reliable production units in their facilities.”

The G3 photo reactor comprises LED panels that offer efficient light penetration on both sides of glass fluidic modules, each with an internal volume of 60 ml.  The G3 photo reactor also features a tunable LED light source with one dedicated wavelength that can be selected based on customer requirements. It also includes dedicated software that allows customers to control and monitor light intensity of the LED arrays.

“We designed an LED lighting source with a cooling mechanism that enables efficient control of light intensity during the photoreaction process in addition to maintaining long LED lifetime,” said Olivier Lobet, global product engineer, Corning Reactor Technologies.  

Photochemical applications can be scaled up from the smaller G1 photo reactor to the new G3 photo reactor which allows for the seamless transfer from lab to industrial scale manufacturing. A production capacity of a few hundred tons per year can be achieved per reactor depending on customers’ processes. The G3 photo reactor also has a compact footprint that makes it easy to increase the productivity of an installation by adding several units in parallel.  This offers customers an easy way to build an industrial unit by adding additional reactors based on product demand.

Corning showcased its new G3 photo reactor during ACHEMA 2018, one of the largest European world forums on chemical engineering.  Exhibitors from all around the world attend ACHEMA to showcase the latest innovative technologies and equipment for the chemical processing industry.

“Applying flow chemistry to photochemistry was one of the big themes for us during this year’s exhibition,” said Alessandra Vizza, regional business director, Corning Reactor Technologies.  “It’s exciting to launch a new product that permits our customers to transition from experimental tests performed in the lab to continuous flow production units. Our G3 photo reactor provides our customers with easy access to flow photochemistry.  We hope this will inspire the chemical industry to use more photochemical reactions and apply them to general synthetic routes.”

Customers can now place orders for the new G3 photo reactor through Corning’s regional sales channels. The systems are manufactured at Corning’s S.A.S. facility in France with quality after-sale services delivered by Corning’s regional, technical, and commercial teams around the world.

AFR demonstrated the pairing of its G4 reactor industrial unit with its modularized G4 dosing and control system for automated, continuous operation.  This turnkey solution gives customers complete process control, and enables them to customize their system to effectively fit their needs.  Attendees at ACHEMA were able to see production-scale dosing and control units operating during the show.

Corning is the exclusive distributor of Zaiput Flow Technologies’ liquid-liquid phase separators and back-pressure regulators in the Greater China region. In their booth, Zaiput demonstrated the power of integrating Corning and Zaiput technology. A live product demonstration showed a Corning G1 fluidic module working with Zaiput’s liquid-liquid separator, showcasing the power of integrating these technologies into flow processes. Zaiput also launched a new liguid-liquid phase separator at the show, which is compatible with Corning’s production-scale G4 reactor.

Corning AFR also collaborated with Magritek to present a system that utilizes Corning’s Lab Photo Reactor including Magritek’s Spinsolve® benchtop 1H-NMR as a process analysis technology (PAT).  Magritek’s Spinsolve is directly connected with Corning’s Lab Photo Reactor, offering an integrated system solution that enables various parameters to be tested. The Magritek system continuously analyzes the process, and provides ease of use, flexibility, and more accurate information about the state of the process.

Corning and Magritek ran a demonstration of this new system in a shared booth located in the Flow Chemistry Pavilion at ACHEMA.  The demonstration showcased the advantages of integrating Corning’s Lab Photo Reactor and Magritek’s Spinsolve online NMR monitor. Corning’s Lab Photo Reactor combines outstanding mass and heat transfer capacity with a high efficiency LED illumination panel that spans six different wavelengths. Magritek’s Spinsolve offers a quick and easy-to-use process analytical tool.

Corning and Magritek continue to collaborate to offer the best experience in flow chemistry, not only for R&D purposes, but also for industrial production.

The Flow Chemistry Pavilion was a new part of ACHEMA this year. It brought together the most innovative companies in the continuous manufacturing market to increase awareness about the significance of continuous-flow chemistry.

At ACHEMA 2018 Corning AFR once again demonstrated its commitment to the flow chemical market through its innovative products and strategic partnerships. Corning’s products, partnerships, and services provide clients with state-of-the-art solutions for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.