Small businesses will have more opportunities to enter and innovate industries like hydrogen energy, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture with the opening of Australia’s first flow chemistry facility in Melbourne today.
[Music plays and CSIRO logo and text appears:FloWorks CSIRO’s Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry]
[Images flash through of Dr. Christian Hornung working in a laboratory and then the image changes to show Dr. Christian Hornung talking to the camera and text appears: Dr. Christian Hornung, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Manufacturing]
Dr. Christian Hornung: Hi. My name is Christian Hornung. I am a Research Scientist at CSIRO and I work in the Flow Chemistry area.
[Image changes to show a male working in the Centre for Industrial flow Chemistry]
The Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry is a new facility here at Clayton.
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It is a technology platform that provides access to CSIRO’s cutting edge flow chemistry technology to industry as well as academic researchers.
[Image changes to show Dr. Christian Hornung talking to the camera]
Flow Chemistry’s a smarter way of making chemicals.
[Image changes and text appears: Flow Chemistry, This is How it Works]
In flow chemistry,
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other than in a classical batch process, the starting materials are fed into the reactor continuously and this is where the reaction takes place.
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If you use multi stage processing, you can eliminate the need for manual handling of chemicals in between steps and that greatly improves safety.
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Adding in inline purification makes the whole process more streamlined and efficient
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and when you integrate smart monitoring and online analysis the whole process can be automated.
[Image changes to show Dr. Christian Hornung talking to the camera]
So, what are the benefits of flow chemistry for your business?
[Image changes to show two males looking at a computer screen and then the camera zooms in on a male using a touch screen]
It basically means that you can reduce your reaction times, you can reduce your plant space
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and that means that they’ll have less energy costs, a much more efficient process, less waste and a much safer environment.
[Image changes to show a glass beaker with liquid being picked up and then the image changes to show a male working on a touch screen]
At the Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry we offer a complete package which is quite unique.
[Image changes to show a part of the equipment and then the image changes to show
Dr. Christian Hornung talking to the camera]
So, we’re looking at the chemical development as well as the technology from the very early discovery stages
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going through a scale up process to the final pilot scale where we then can do the tech transfer back to the client’s site
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where he can do the manufacturing of their product.
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In the new Centre, we will combine the small-scale capabilities for discovery as well as our large-scale reactors under one roof.
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It’s going to be a collaborative space and in the future we’re looking forward to having even more engagement with industry
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and for this technology to be taken up by chemical manufacturers in all areas.
[Music plays and images flash through of Zoran Manev walking through an office and talking to a female at a computer and then the image changes to show Zoran Manev talking to the camera and text appears: Zoran Manev, Director, Boron Molecular]
Zoran Manev: Boron Molecular is a manufacturer of fine chemicals. The fine chemicals are used in both the pharmaceutical and material science field.
[Image changes to show a beaker of fluid on sitting on top of a machine and then the image changes to show Zoran Manev talking to the camera]
I guess I’m now one of the prophets of flow chemistry and we have a unit here on site
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that we use to develop a number of our processes or convert them from batch to flow.
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Flow chemistry will enable us to make purer molecules.
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So, we will have fewer side chains and fewer issues when we scale up manufacturer from small-scale to larger even tonne lots.
[Image changes to show Zoran Manev talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a piece of laboratory equipment]
The resultant of that is, is that you’re wasting less solvents, less energy and you’re having far less material that you’re discarding into the environment.
[Image changes to show hoses joining into the laboratory equipment and then the image changes to show Zoran Manev talking to the camera]
We’re excited at the prospect of working with CSIRO’s Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry.
[Camera zooms in on Zoran Manev’s face and then images move through of a male and female looking at a piece of equipment, a male looking at liquid in a beaker and a female looking up]
We look to that partnership being one where we will get introduced to a number of potential clients through our involvement with the Centre
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and likewise the Centre will continue to develop molecules for us that we will eventually bring back to our facility for manufacturing.
[Image changes to show Zoran Manev talking to the camera]
In five to ten years’ time I see flow chemistry as being the prevalent chemistry on site.
[Image changes to show Dr. Christian Hornung talking to the camera]
Dr. Christian Hornung: If people want to get access to the facility and learn more about the technology get in contact with us.
[CSIRO logo and text appears: Big ideas start here, www.csiro.au]
FloWorks Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, officially opened its FloWorks Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry in the presence of Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel and representatives from a number of small and medium business partners.
Located in the heart of the Australian Manufacturing and Materials Precinct in Clayton, Victoria, FloWorks provides cutting edge research into flow chemistry capability, making it more accessible to the chemical manufacturing industry and solving challenges associated with developing Australia’s future industries and jobs.
Flow chemistry is a form of chemical manufacturing that is cleaner, smarter and more efficient. The benefits of using the flow process include reduced reaction times and plant space, which equate to less energy cost, more efficient processes, reduced waste and a much safer environment.
The smaller set-up used in flow chemistry reduces barriers to entry for small and medium businesses in what would otherwise be capital-intensive industries.
Dr Christian Hornung, a senior research scientist with CSIRO and Director of the new centre, said FloWorks provides a world-leading research facility and innovation centre for chemistry.
“FloWorks develops scalable and safe chemical processes using an emerging technology called continuous flow chemistry,” Dr Horning said.
“The Centre provides a collaborative space at the cutting-edge of modern chemistry, where we can work with Australian businesses to improve their processes, cut costs and reduce waste.
“Our world-class researchers at FloWorks can work with partners to update their current chemical processes, including from laboratory discovery to continuous flow production scale; from inefficient batch procedures to continuous processes; and offer in-house training for industrial collaborators on our state-of-the-art flow chemistry equipment.”
Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, said the FloWorks Centre will allow Australian-based researchers to use its capabilities to support emerging renewable hydrogen technology development.
“One of our greatest challenges is to move to a decarbonised economy, and hydrogen has the potential to play an important role in this transition,” Dr Finkel said.
“Maximising the efficiency in both production and use of hydrogen is crucially important. Improvements depend largely on the efficiency of the catalysis. Flow chemistry could be used to improve efficiency, and FloWorks has developed its own catalysis processes in pursuit of this goal.”
Since 2009, CSIRO has worked with small businesses through to multi-nationals using flow chemistry to manufacture innovative new materials like RAFT and other high-performance polymers, Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs), pharmaceuticals and various fine chemicals and specialty materials.
Dr Oliver Hutt is Director of Business Development at Boron Molecular, which was created more than 20 years ago to commercialise CSIRO science, and now uses flow chemistry at their Melbourne plant to manufacture fine chemicals for Australian and international clients.
“CSIRO helped us integrate flow chemistry into our operations. We use our unit to develop a number of processes or convert them from batch to flow,” Dr Hutt said.
“Examples of the types of technologies we’ve commercialised using flow chemistry include poly-aniline (PANI), a high-performance electroactive polymer used in coating applications, and a suite of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs), next generation high-surface area, porous materials used for applications like gas storage and water treatment,” he said.
FloWorks is open to businesses of all sizes interested in working with CSIRO’s world-class experts to create value using flow chemistry.
This research is supported by the Science and Industry Endowment Fund.
