Singapore venture INVENTA TECHNOLOGIES successfully started-up a state-of-the-art surfactant production facility for a major Brazilian industrial group In Coatzacoalcos, Mexico.
The manufacturing facility, owned and operated by the OXITENO Group, is located in proximity to a Petrochemical complex at the Mexican Gulf coast. The facility receives its raw material, ethylene oxide, from PEMEX.
The Brazilian investor selected INVENTA’s proprietary process technology for the production of specialty surfactants, so called Ethylene Oxide Derivatives. The Singapore originated know how allows chemical companies to produce value added surfactants for a broad range of uses. Consumers find these products in applications ranging from shampoos, detergents, food emulsifiers or even drug delivery systems.
State-of-the-art green technology was applied when the Singapore engineering team developed the blue prints for the industrial facility. It deploys latest energy recuperation concepts, which reflect INVENTA’s commitment to provide sustainable manufacturing processes only. Energy saving concepts with minimum carbon foot print is one of the areas INVENTA is heavily engaged in. A substantial part of its research & development activities is dedicated to green programs.
Swiss entrepreneur and inventor, Ralf Lange, decided decades ago to operate his technology ventures out of Singapore. The modern city state provided an infrastructure and political framework which suited his passion for research and development. Late Member of Parliament, Dr Ong Chit Chung, was co-founder of this upcoming reaction technology company. Operating out of Biopolis, Singapore’s global showpiece for innovation, INVENTA advanced to a globally recognized name in various process technology fields. Biopolis is an ideal place for INVENTA’s team to network and collaborate. While Biopolis initially focused on supporting the pharmaceutical industry, it is now diversifying to leverage new areas which are fast-growing, such as personal care, food and nutrition.
“Our clients and projects are global and not limited to Asia. Inventa’s team thinks out-of-the- box and innovates to compete in the global market. We are well located at Biopolis to serve our clientele”, co-founder and CEO, Ralf Lange, summarizes.
The business of developing and licensing main process technologies for the specialty chemical, personal care and pharmaceutical industry is demanding and historically dominated by large Western corporations. Smaller and self-funded innovation companies typically go through challenging times. “Our Singapore team needs to work smart to put technologies onto the world map”, Ralf Lange pointed out.
100 working industrial process plants worldwide, the start-up of OXITENO’s manufacturing facilities in Mexico represents another important milestone in the Singapore Technology Venture strategy to convert its business from an engineering company to a full fledged technology and R&D driven enterprise. 2016 will be an important year in INVENTA’s transformation.
INVENTA can look back to a game-changing year where specific technologies developed in-house finally got global market recognition. Recently, INVENTA concluded an agreement with German Industrial Conglomerate ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions covering Technology and Know How Transfer for a specific chemical reaction portfolio. The technology platform converting Ethylene Oxide to valuable surfactants deployed in Oxiteno’s manufacturing plant in Mexico was part of the recent technology acquisition by ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions. The market considers this collaboration a direct endorsement of INVENTA’s capabilities.
“Our R&D pipeline contains some patentable technological game-changers, ready to convert into yielding global license agreements in the near future”, Ralf Lange discloses without elaborating details. According to INVENTA, several license deals and strategic collaborations are currently in negotiation. A restructuring with a foreign strategic investor is in progress and will allow the company to strengthen its position in specific undertakings. On the location of the technology driven company, its CEO noted: “Networking with globally operating industry players in Singapore is highly efficient.”
Inventa’s global industry recognition is a validation of its vision to generate more Swiss/Singapore originated know how for the Specialty Chemical, Oleochemical and Pharmaceutical Industry. Inventa in cooperation with well-known industry players is considering Singapore as potential location for novel, industrial prototype manufacturing facilities.
To promote its global reach, INVENTA is planning to set-up two offices overseas to leverage on close customer contacts and industry or academic collaborations.
INVENTA intends to promote Singapore’s role in becoming a global hub for modern process technologies. For that purpose INVENTA decided to further build-up and strengthen its local team of experts in a flexible and out-of-the-box working environment. With INVENTA operating its own Research & Development laboratories and pilot plants in Singapore, Biopolis has served again as an example of interdisciplinary innovation hub with global reach.
INVENTA accelerates innovation and technology development in the Specialty Chemicals, Oleochemicals, Cosmetic, Personal Care, Surfactants, Oil Field, Agrochemicals, Food, Health Supplement, Pharmaceutical and Life Science industry and specializes in the commercialization of intellectual property generated by its motivated team of experts. INVENTA’s practical approach has resulted in many successful implementations of plant projects for the above industries.
INVENTA also carries out technology, safety and process plant audits as well as business feasibility studies for the specialty chemical, oleochemical, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and food industries.
INVENTA brought together a team of multi-national scientists and engineers with expertise in R&D, chemical and biochemical processes as well as project implementation. INVENTA’s clients will benefit from a multi-disciplinary approaches, creative thinking and global networking. INVENTA delivers solutions. INVENTA optimizes chemical and biochemical processes and customize them for its clients’ specific needs. INVENTA ensures and oversees the scale-up from laboratory to production mode.
When INVENTA engages in research and development projects, its focus is on the final outcome, i.e. the commercialization of the latest know how in process technologies on an industrial scale, with an eye on cost control and resource optimization. INVENTA chooses to operate from the heart of Asia. Its management believes Singapore is the ideal site as the home base for the rapidly expanding business. INVENTA benefits from the highly competitive and result driven environment of Singapore.
Singapore is fast becoming the Asian hub for the state-of-the-art technologies in the specialty chemical, pharmaceutical and life science industries. It facilitates interaction between INVENTA’s team and other scientific organizations and institutions in the scientific community.
INVENTA’s aim is to promote and actualize state-of-the-art chemical and biochemical methodologies and process technologies. The management is confident that with the dedication of the team, relentless research and the support of clients, INVENTA has a good portfolio and track record.
INVENTA’s market oriented organization structure is kept lean and is able to supply process technologies and expertise to suit its customers specific needs. INVENTA operates efficiently and therefore cost-effectively. The board of directors and advisors guide a motivated team with the aim to build-up and maintain a solid foundation which provides a platform for the future growth of our technology venture.
Inventa has developed its own proprietary chemical plant reaction technology called the Inventa JetReactor Technology. It is widely accepted as a modern technology for the manufacturing of important raw materials and intermediates for the detergent, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, oleochemical or agrochemical industries in the world. The Inventa JetReactor Technology has many applications in the chemical industry and can play a vital role in expanding its operations in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Inventa has proprietary know how and the methodology to develop and optimize chemical processes for gas/liquid and liquid/liquid reactions from conceptional stage to industrial scale based on its Inventa JetReactor Technology. INVENTA’s know how and methodology is preferably applied for mass-transfer limited reactions as the Inventa JetReactor technology provides superior mass transfer to other conventional reactors, such as stirred reactors (STR) or reaction columns.
High-Performance Reactor
Inventa JetReactor offers an innovative approach to chemical reaction technology. The high performance reactor is designed to provide excellent gas-liquid mixing which results in high throughput and high product quality. Attractive process economics, ease of scale-up, flexibility in operating parameters, flexible batch size, consistent product quality and improved process safety are key factors which made world leading chemical companies select Inventa JetReactor Technology.
Inventa JetReactor consists of a reaction autoclave, a JetReactor Circulation Pump, a JetReactor Heat Exchanger and a venturi type Ejector. This system thus requires the same number of elements as a stirred vessel system, but is arranged in a completely different way.
- The reaction vessel of InventaJetReactor does not need baffles and is normally built with a larger length/diameter ratio than the stirred vessel and is thus lower in cost, especially for high- pressure reactions.
- The external JetReactor Heat Exchanger (instead of coils or internal exchangers) can be built as large as needed and is not limited by the reactor’s working volume. The full JetReactor Heat Exchanger area is available for accurate temperature control even if the reactor is operated with reduced working volumes.
- The JetReactor Circulation Pump (instead of an agitator) allows high power input per m3 working volume in those cases where high mass transfer rates have to be achieved. The maximum power input of stirred vessels is often a limiting factor, especially for large reactors. New pump designs are now available with mechanical seals that can be operated at pressures of up to 100 bar g. An unique impeller and a special hydrodynamic pump house profile allow pumping of liquid with a high solid content and high gas loads, without the aid of an inducer and thus avoiding abrasion problems where heterogeneous catalysts are used.
- The down flow Jet Ejector (instead of a sparger or other gas distribution system) is a high performance gassing tool. The ability to finely disperse very small gas bubbles to the liquid with a gas-liquid ratio between 0.5 and 2.0 creates high mass transfer rates and makes this an ideal tool for gas-liquid reactions.
Operating Principle
The reaction mixture in the Inventa JetReactor is circulated by the external JetReactor Circulation Pump through the external JetReactor Heat Exchanger and the Jet Mixer.
The Jet Mixer is a proprietary self priming venturi nozzle, promoting a twisting downward jet. Within the Jet Mixer, mass transfer rates far superior than any other conventional stirred reactor are achieved (i.e. 5 to 10 times better). The reaction kinetics may be adapted to specific reaction requirements, as it is possible to operate the Inventa JetReactor under high gas distribution throughout the entire reactor or under low gas distribution such that the reaction is entirely concentrated within the Jet Mixer. This flexibility in mass transfer rates allows a range of reaction selectivity and productivity to be achieved.
Comparison with other Reactor Systems
Mass Transfer
The mass transfer rates of Stirred Tank Reactors and JetRectors are described in several scientific publications. Depending on the reaction kinetics of specific chemical reactions, reaction times can be shortened up to 5 times.
This leads to smaller and more economic reactors for specific applications.
Typically INVENTA tests new reactions and investigates if a higher energy input (better agitation/mixing) leads to faster reactions. Reactions where a higher energy input results in better product quality with shorter reaction times are selected as potential candidates. These are the reactions which we define with a good potential for the JetReactor at an early stage of an investigation.
Scale-Up
Scale-Up of Stirred Tank Reactor
Various publications cover the subject of scale-up stirred tank reactors from laboratory to industrial scale reactors.
In summary, it can be concluded that the design of a turbine-stirred reactor is complex problem. The scale-up of stirred reactors has to go through various size/stages to allow the transfer of data generated in laboratories/pilot plants to industrial scale. Most of the time the specific power input, yields, reaction times, and product qualities vary from experiments in the laboratory/pilot plant to industrial scale. Typically the performance is better in small units. This posts a challenge to R&D departments or engineering departments of chemical production companies.
Scale-Up of JetReactors
The JetReactor the power input is generated by the JetReactor Circulation Pump. The circulating liquid is forced through a ejector nozzle (JetMixer) where the liquid is accelerated into a jet, which due to its momentum entrains reaction gas into the mixing tube. In the mixing tube, gas and liquid and catalyst are intensively mixed in the mixing shock zone, where the gas is finely dispersed as very small bubbles. As the resulting gas/liquid stream leaves the ejector and enters the JetReactor Vessel, a secondary dispersion of bubbles is obtained in the bulk fluid.
Due to the operating principle and construction arrangement, the JetReactor exhibits numerous favourable features regarding their process application as well as design and scale-up. As described in detail in many publications, the JetReactor allows a simpler scale-up approach and show better mass-transfer performance than stirred reactors.