Innovative multipurpose flow reactor

Our multipurpose reactor converts any batch process into flow

Cleanliness and precise control for faster, cheaper, and safer chemistry

Cleaning is the primary product in short batch campaigns

Batch reactors limit your chemistry scope and yield
Slow heat & mass transfer requires cryogenics, limits throughput, and creates impurities
Discontinuous processes result in large inventories, labour and overhead costs
Yet, batch is simple and versatile

Our reactor combines benefits of both flow and batch

Batch reactor mixing pattern under fluorescent light

Benefits in brief

Our reactor improves and simplifies a series of stirred tanks providing all the benefits without their complexities. You already know about batch hydrodynamics – these all apply to our reactor.

Many impellers in small chambers maximise heat & mass transfer for excellent reaction control, high yield, simple reaction cascades and expanded chemistries (exothermic, labile, explosive). The reactor is configurable in minutes for various impellers or reactions. You save on materials, overheads, and labour.

Rapid adoption & process development

Flow chemistry would be simple if you could apply all the knowledge from batch directly to flow. You can now!
Our reactor is an improved series of continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) with familiar impellers. Our studies show that all the correlations in hydrodynamics, heat and mass transfer derived for batch reactors still apply. Such predictability removes the adoption risks, accelerates, and simplifies process development.

Multipurpose – convert any batch to flow

Any batch process can be converted into flow; liquids, gases or solids in any combinations. Examples include cross-coupling (liquid), homogeneous hydrogenation (gas-liquid), heterogeneous hydrogenation (gas-liquid-solid), extraction (liquid-solid), crystallisation (liquid with solid formation), polymerisation (high viscosity), emulsions (viscous multiphase), and more. Our reactor can handle slurries as thick as 30 wt% with up to 0.15 mm particle diameters.
Impellers or reactor volume can be changed within 15 minutes, reducing risks and saving costs and time.

Cascade of alkali, CO2 and acid neutralisation with indicator

Simplified reaction cascades

The Stoli reactor allows feeding of additional reagents at any point in the vessel – at any chamber. And it can sparge them across several reactor chambers.

Telescoping synthesis becomes possible in a single reactor. Several reaction steps, or reaction with initial workup, can be combined for process intensification to use time, equipment and premises at peak efficiency.

Opens new chemistry routes

Excellent control of the reaction parameters and accelerated reaction cascades enable feasible and scalable use of hazardous, energetic or labile intermediates.

Intermediates can be obtained in-situ and rapidly consumed, reducing the process risks while opening new chemistry opportunities or reaction shortcuts. As a result, synthetic routes can be shortened and available reagents used.

Precision & Control

Our reactor has multiple impellers in small compartments to enable rapid heat and mass transfer and handle even rapid chemical processes. At any feeding flow rate, the Stoli reactor enables rapid heat and mass transfer for high yield and product selectivity.

Residence time (the time chemicals spend in the reactor) and its distribution can limit the process range and performance. In our reactors, the average residence time can be seconds to hours with the distribution narrower than a series of 10 ideal CSTRs. The distribution is often quasi plug-flow with negligible backmixing to control the yield and impurities.

Residence time distribution of CSTR and Stoli agitated reactor

A view through the polished flow reactor

Reliability and cleanliness

The polished reactor surface traps little impurities and it is fast to clean. Our design is focused on FDA cleanliness standards with polished surfaces and no dead zones. The components can be cleaned in place or removed in 15 minutes for thorough external cleaning. Reactor cleaning turnover can be as fast as 30 minutes.

Our innovative reactor design incorporates the benefits of multiple continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) into a single multi-chamber reactor with a single stirring motor. This removes the need for complex fittings, extra pipework and multiple reactors with dedicated motors – a simple and reliable design.

Specifications

Wetted materials (3 options)	Hastelloy® C276 / Kalrez / PTFE 316L Stainless steel/ Kalrez / PTFE Glass / Hastelloy® C276 / Kalrez / PTFE
Temperature	-40 to 250 °C (3 temperature zones as an option)
Pressure	Vacuum to 20 bar (100 bar option)
Residence times	0.5 to 300 minutes
Cascade reactions	Main liquid feeding with 2 side-feeding arms for reagent sparging or addition to a specific chamber
Reactor volume	3 reactor options are available at lab (15-100 mL), kilo (0.15-1 L), and pilot (1.5-10 L) scales
Stirring rates	10-1500 rpm (compatible with existing overhead stirrers)
Reactor peripherals	Overhead stirrer (IKA) Heating fluid circulator – heating or heating/cooling (IKA) Fluid feeding and metering with Bronkhorst flow controllers and meters; 0.1 mL/min to 10 L/min liquid flow, 1 mL/min to 30 L/min gas flow Back pressure regulation (Fixed or variable)

Expertise & Excellence

Established in 2016 as a Warwick University spinout, we capitalise on our extensive expertise in heterogeneous catalysis and flow chemistry.

Our excellence has been recognised by receiving numerous awards and highly competitive grants such as a £500k Innovate UK grant, participation in the Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Technologies competition and the award of a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellowship.

We are currently scaling-up the continuous manufacturing (with a €1.2M Horizon 2020 SME Instrument grant #848926) to provide sustainable manufacturing of chemicals at a lower manufacturing costs.