We’re more than excited for the year ahead, with flow chemistry continuing to gain traction in a number of new sectors and applications. As well as testing the solid handling capabilities of our Coflore range, we’ve also spent the year assisting many pharmaceutical businesses to adopt a continuous manufacturing process and even enjoyed some fun events along the way.
In celebration of another successful year, we’ve put together our top achievements of 2022:
7. Continuously knowing more about Coflore!
Throughout the year, we’ve seen our Coflore flow reactor range feature in multiple publications from customers across the world.
We’ve racked up a total of 7 publication features this year. From the ‘Fully continuous flow synthesis of a Key Intermediate of Vitamin B1’, whereby synthetic Vitamin B1, a highly desirable compound, was commercially accessed through a fully continuous three-step flow synthesis which included the Coflore ACR for the second stage.
To Researchers at the CSIR in India who published their developed approach of continuous flow processes for the synthesis of budesonide. A flow chemistry approach in this instance removed a number of undesirables that batch production methods failed to do, from purification steps to the required yields and desired ratios to comply with regulatory bodies.
6. Coflore goes on tour!
2022 saw the return of many in-person events, with things returning to normal. This meant we could showcase our products and services much further afield than in previous years. Various members of the team have been to ACHEMA, ChemUK, UK ASF, FCS India, Hatfield MedChem and more!
5. Another dedicated year from our Chemical Engineer
This year marked the five-year anniversary of Andrew Karras, Chemical Engineer here at AM Technology. Andrew first joined the team, after completing his Master's in Chemical Engineering. At this time, the company was also more focused on the R&D of the Coflore ACR and ART, which were still in the working stages.
Since then, AM Technology’s focus has shifted to providing continuous flow alternatives and becoming a solidified manufacturing business for the chemical and wider sectors. In his time here, Andrew has been involved in chemical engineering design, R&D, sales and marketing, installations and more.
We’re looking forward to hearing about his next five years! Watch Andrews’ anniversary interview here.
4. Overseas expansion of flow chemistry
We’ve spent the year building relationships and expanding the AM Technology family by partnering with distributors Medipro, located in Slovenia, and Chemisky, located in South Korea. Chemical manufacturing spans worldwide and we want the Coflore commercial skids to do so to!
We’re pleased to work with global distributors and reach the wider pharmaceutical, R&D, and chemical production markets (to name a few).
3. Small team, big accomplishments
This year Luke Ward, our Electrical Engineer, has completed his HND in Electrical Engineering with Distinction! After joining us as an apprentice at just 16, Luke has spent a lot of his time gaining the qualifications to expand his skill set and continue his journey with us.
After completing his NVQ in Mechanical Engineering and his HNC in Electrical Engineering, Luke celebrated his graduation in October and has been working on a flow process plant for one of our customers in Norway.
2. Publications from across the nation
In 2022 we were also pleased to announce the publication of work collaborated between AM Technology and the University of Leeds. The article titled ‘Chemical Engineering and Processing – Process Intensification’ described the work that was conducted as part of an IbD project entitled ‘Physical and numerical characterisation of an Agitated Tubular Reactor (ATR) for intensification of chemical processes.' Not to mention, Andrew Karras was also named as an author of the article.
The unique mixing characteristics of the Coflore ATR meant an approach of decoupling plug flow from residence time to give low dispersion numbers, fast blending and high sheer across a large range of residence times, from seconds all the way to hours.
The University of Leeds characterised the mixing efficiency of the ATR excellently and we look forward to furthering collaboration in 2023.
1. Around the world in 365 days
2022 has seen flow chemistry become a hot topic globally and we’re proud to be a brand associated with it. We’ve been working with customers across the globe to design, build and install their flow process plants. Assisting them at each stage of the scale-up to work towards commercial-sized continuous manufacturing.
A project that has consumed our in-house R&D facilities for a number of months is one that is still partially underway and partially installed at the customer’s premises in Norway!
The overall project consists of multiple skids for various stages of the process to complete a full continuous food supplement synthesis. The flow plant will perform five consecutive reactions and two work-up steps, with steps 1,2,3 and 5 utilising the Coflore ATR system and the Coflore continuous extractors to produce the food supplement.
Phase one of the flow plant has been delivered and installed in Norway, with the final stages currently being built for feasibility testing in preparation for the next installation to complete the project.
In total, the flow plant will house three Coflore ATR systems, two Coflore continuous extractors and 13 batch collection and feed tanks!
The arrival of two batch vessels ahead of the build of the final phase of the flow process, Aug 2022
The current stance of the process skid at our facility, Dec 2022
