Prosperity Partnership in Innovative Continuous Manufacturing for Industrial Chemicals (IConIC)

Lead Research Organisation: Imperial College London
Department Name: Chemistry

Abstract

Currently, most of the manufacturing the high-value chemicals such as agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, are performed in 'batch' reactors, where the chemical feedstocks (largely petrochemicals based) are converted into the product through a sequence of 'units of operations', which includes several chemical transformations, and purification steps. As the volume of each reactor is fixed, some of these operations, if not the entire sequence, have to be repeated, in order to meet the market demand. Very often, batch-to-batch variation in quality can result, which has to be monitored closely at each stage of the process in order to meet stringent regulatory requirements for product purity.

Conversely, in a continuous flow process, the individual units of operation are integrated to enable an uninterrupted flow of material and product. Inline analytics (sensors and detectors) can also be implemented to monitor the quality of the produced product in real-time. As the entire process operates non-stop ('steady state'), the volume of production is no longer limited by the reactor size. Potentially, a continuous process is more efficient in saving costs, energy, and time, without comprising product quality.

Traditionally, high-value chemical products, such as agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, are produced using batch reactors, as they are usually required in small volumes. In more recent years, there are significant economical and sustainability drivers for the chemical industry to adopt the use of continuous flow processes. However, their implementation is not easy; as continuous reactors tend to be less flexible, in terms of modifying them to produce different products. The ambition of the IConIC Partnership is to redesign the continuous process: from a fully-integrated, single-purpose unit, towards a flexible 'plug-and-play' system, where each unit of operation ('module') can be replaced or substituted easily without affecting the overall performance of the continuous process. This will require a better understanding of how the interplay between molecular properties, timescales of reactions (reaction kinetics), and process parameters. For industrial implementation, additional factors (e.g. costs, sustainability and regulatory requirements) also need to be taken into consideration to justify the capital investment needed to switch from batch to flow production.

Over the past 5 years, BASF has been working with ICL to foster an active 'Flow Chemistry' community involving 50 researchers at both institutions. The IConIC partnership will not cement the relationship by initiating a programme of exciting and ambition research projects to translate the benefits of Flow Chemistry from the R&D lab into industrial practice. An important aspect is an emphasis on a seamless data flow and translation process across the WPs, including decision-making under uncertainty, multi-fidelity design of experiments, transfer learning, and proof-of-concept demonstration for scale-up.
A key feature of IConIC is the inclusion of a number of other UK-based industrial partners to form a 'vertical consortium' along the value chain. Over the period of the grant, the Partnership will be expanded to include additional academic and industrial partners at the appropriate junctures, to leverage synergistic values. Ultimately this will enable the UK to take leadership in continuous flow manufacturing.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description BASF SE PSQ263 Studentship Shivandra Jayasekera PSQ263
Amount £123,473 (GBP)
Funding ID PSQ263 
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 09/2023 
End 09/2027
 
Description BASF SE Studentship Emma Pajak 2023
Amount £125,870 (GBP)
Funding ID PSQ114 
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 09/2023 
End 09/2027
 
Description BASF SE Studentship Humza Bhatti PSQ270
Amount £134,972 (GBP)
Funding ID PSQ270 
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 11/2023 
End 10/2027
 
Description BASF SE Studentship Rebecca Langdon PSQ115
Amount £127,601 (GBP)
Funding ID PSQ115 
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 09/2023 
End 09/2027
 
Description BASF SE Studentship Toby Boyne PSQ115
Amount £129,325 (GBP)
Funding ID PSQ115 
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 09/2023 
End 09/2027
 
Description Calvin Tsay RAENG BASF Fellowship
Amount £225,000 (GBP)
Funding ID RCSRF2324-18-46 
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 03/2024 
End 02/2029
 
Description PRS516 Liam Buchan BASF Studentship
Amount £139,000 (GBP)
Organisation BASF 
Sector Private
Country Germany
Start 09/2024 
End 09/2028
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation AM Technology
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation Almac Group
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation BASF
Country Germany 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation Mettler-Toledo Auto Chem
Country United States 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation Siemens AG
Department Siemens plc
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Description IConIC Prosperity Partnership Consortium 
Organisation Sterling Pharma Solutions
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Private 
PI Contribution Imperial College will contribute advances hackspace time, 3 phd studentships, PI expertise time and contribution towards MRes tuition fees.
Collaborator Contribution Supervision and involvement in the advisory board, placement for students, Industry supervisor time for researchers, 1 FTE programme manager, studentships, consumables for postdocs, travel & accommodation for retreats, software & hardware training, software licences, facility access (Sterling), access to Coflore ACR reactor, hosting pilot-scale trials at MAT with larger Coflore ATR reactor and loaning out production scale Coflore RTR for larger scale tests.
Impact No outputs yet
Start Year 2023
 
Title BOFIRE 
Description Experimental design and (multi-objective) bayesian optimization. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2024 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact N/A 
URL https://github.com/experimental-design/bofire
 
Title Limeade 
Description Final implementation of the molecular design tool that we have been developing with the BASF colleagues. 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2025 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact N/A 
URL https://github.com/cog-imperial/Limeade
 
Title OMLT extension to graph neural networks 
Description This extension to graph neural networks allows others to implement the work we had previously done with BASF colleagues (papers with Mathea and Zhang). 
Type Of Technology Software 
Year Produced 2024 
Open Source License? Yes  
Impact N/A 
URL https://github.com/cog-imperial/OMLT/pull/110
 
Description 3rd International Conference on Automated Flow and Microreactor Synthesis (ICAMS-3), joint meeting: Digitalization-driven Transformative Organic Synthese (Digi-TOS) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Sceintific exchange and networking event
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://sites.google.com/view/international-joint-symposium-
 
Description 50th Organic Process Research & Development Conference, Scientific Update 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact A meeting designed to provide latest scientific updates, specifically for the 'upskilling' of industrial chemists, to meet and network with other chemists.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.rsc.org/events/detail/75666/50th-organic-process-research-and-development-conference
 
Description Invited Talk - Automated Synthesis Forum meeting (Hii) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact ROAR lab and facilities visit and update on BASF - ICL collaboration -IConIC
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Invited talk - High throughput kinetic experiments in flow (Hii) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Scientific exchange and networking event
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
URL https://www.soci.org/events/young-chemists-panel/2025/sci-rsc-demystifying-reaction-kinetics
 
Description Invited talk hte-BASF talk October 2024 online (Hellgardt) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact An invited to talk, opportunity to provide update on IConIC progress to date
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description New Frontiers in Synthetic Chemistry 2023, Royal School of Chemistry 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact This event will include several networking opportunities throughout the day, providing an opportunity for all delegates to discuss their research with the aim to stimulate future industry and academic collaborations.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://www.rsc.org/events/detail/76136/new-frontiers-in-synthetic-chemistry-2023
 
Description Outreach Activity - Imperial Lates (Gulsoy Serif) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Outreach event - Imperial Lates are the College's series of after work free public events for an adult audience. At Lates different research themes are brought to life by the creativity and passion of Imperial academics, students and staff through live demonstrations, workshops, interactive experiments, and inspiring talks. The event series provides a unique opportunity to share the wonder of our research with the public, the College and the wider College community, create links with new research groups, collaborate with other institutes, and try out new ways to present research to new and diverse audiences.
Chemical engineering, while pivotal in shaping many aspects of modern life - from food production and energy to environmental sustainability and healthcare - remains unfamiliar to many. Through our innovative exhibit - a continuous popcorn machine powered by fluidized bed technology - we aim to make the fundamental principles of chemical engineering more accessible. Visitors will have the opportunity to interact with the machine, adjusting parameters such as airflow, temperature, and bed depth to explore how these factors influence the popcorn production process. This hands-on experience will provide insights into key concepts like
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2025
 
Description Plenary Speaker 9th AIRO Yong Workshop (Misener) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Scientific exchange and networking event
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2025
 
Description Visit from ICL President and German Ministers (Hii) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact ROAR lab and facilities visit and update on BASF - ICL collaboration -IConIC
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024