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Pharmaceutical Case Study

Optimizing Flow Chemistry for API Production

How a leading pharmaceutical company increased production efficiency by 45% and achieved consistent quality with our custom flow reactor system.

Project Duration: 12 months
Leading Pharma Company
45% Efficiency Improvement
Advanced pharmaceutical flow chemistry setup

Custom Flow Reactor Implementation

The Challenge

Initial Situation
A leading pharmaceutical company was facing significant challenges in their API production process

Key Problems:

  • Inconsistent batch yields (55-79% range)
  • Long 18-hour batch processing cycles
  • High solvent consumption and waste
  • Difficulty scaling from 100g to 10kg batches

Business Impact:

  • Unable to meet increasing market demand
  • High production costs affecting margins
  • Quality consistency issues with regulators
  • Delayed product launch timeline

Project Journey

1
Initial Challenge
January 2023
Leading pharmaceutical company struggling with batch inconsistency and long processing times
45% yield variation between batches
18-hour batch cycles limiting throughput
High solvent consumption increasing costs
Difficulty scaling lab results to production
2
Assessment & Planning
February 2023
ChemSymphony conducted comprehensive process analysis and feasibility studies
Process mapping and bottleneck identification
Flow chemistry feasibility assessment
Economic analysis and ROI projections
Custom system design and specifications
3
System Design & Engineering
March-April 2023
Custom flow reactor system designed for the specific API synthesis process
Multi-stage flow reactor configuration
Integrated temperature control systems
Automated sampling and analysis
Advanced process control implementation
4
Installation & Commissioning
May 2023
Seamless installation and system validation at client facility
Factory acceptance testing completed
On-site installation and integration
System commissioning and validation
Operator training and documentation
5
Optimization & Results
June-December 2023
Process optimization delivered exceptional improvements in all key metrics
Achieved 92% consistent yields
Reduced processing time to 6 hours
40% reduction in solvent usage
Seamless scale-up to commercial production

Exceptional Results Achieved

Yield Improvement
Before:67% ±12%
After:92% ±2%
Improvement:+37%
Processing Time
Before:18 hours
After:6 hours
Improvement:-67%
Solvent Usage
Before:45 L/kg product
After:27 L/kg product
Improvement:-40%
Production Capacity
Before:2.5 kg/day
After:12 kg/day
Improvement:+380%
Energy Consumption
Before:85 kWh/kg
After:52 kWh/kg
Improvement:-39%
Waste Generation
Before:12 kg/kg product
After:4.8 kg/kg product
Improvement:-60%

Solutions Implemented

Challenge:

Inconsistent Batch Quality

Solution:

Continuous flow processing with precise residence time control

Impact:

Eliminated batch-to-batch variation, achieving ±2% yield consistency

Challenge:

Long Processing Times

Solution:

Enhanced heat and mass transfer in microstructured reactors

Impact:

Reduced total processing time from 18 hours to 6 hours

Challenge:

High Solvent Consumption

Solution:

Optimized reaction conditions and integrated solvent recovery

Impact:

40% reduction in fresh solvent usage, significant cost savings

Challenge:

Scale-up Difficulties

Solution:

Numbering-up approach with parallel reactor modules

Impact:

Linear scale-up achieved without process re-optimization

"The transformation has been remarkable. ChemSymphony's flow reactor system not only solved our immediate production challenges but positioned us for future growth. The 45% efficiency improvement exceeded our most optimistic projections."
PS

Ms. Priya Sharma

VP Operations, Leading Pharma Company

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