Equipment

VUOS multi-purpose pilot plant is well-equipped with a range of glass-lined, stainless steel and rubber-lined reactors for flexible batch-wise production. They are grouped into production trains for a wide range of chemical and physical processes. Sufficient support by rectification units and auxiliary operations (e.g. for isolation of products) makes VUOS a good partner for you.

We are able to develop processes based on our own know-how, or to scale-up and/or optimise existing processes for full commercial production. We co-operate with interesting outsourcing partners on new important pharma-projects.

Pilot plant production is mostly orientated towards VUOS custom syntheses activities [usually under secrecy agreement] ranging in volume from ten kilos to ten tons.

Production is mainly directed into the field of pharmaceutical intermediates ["starting materials"].

The manufacturing service is supported by a highly experienced team of chemists and chemical engineers, with a special expertise in adapting processes and plant layout to manufacture a wide range of speciality/fine chemicals (see our Product List).

We are able to handle some obnoxious/hazardous chemicals, e.g.

  • Thionylchloride
  • Phosgene
  • Chlorine
  • Bromine
  • Boron trichloride
  • Chlorosulphuric acid
  • Phosphorus oxychloride
  • Oxalyl chloride
  • Sodium borohydride
  • Sodium hydride
  • Sodium sulfide
  • Alkyl Lithium
  • 20% Oleum
  • Nitric acid [65%, 98%]
  • Hydrazine

Production unit equipment


Reactors

Material

Total volume [l]

Size

Number

From [l]

To [l]

Glass Lined

99 300

250

6 000

63

Stainless Steel

28 000

400

6 000

28

Ruby Red

1 400

1 400

1 400

1


Distillation Equipment

Unit

Material

Boiler [l]

Theoretical Plates

Pressure [mbar] vaccum

Temperature [oC]

Using

4x

SS

500-3500

20-96

4 -100

up to 200

distillation, rectification

11x

Glass lined

400-6300

5-60

5-100 

up to 200

azeotropic rectification


Autoclaves for hydrogenation and pressure reaction

Volume [l]

Material of construction

Max. operating pressure [MPa]

Max. operating temperature [°C]

0.5 - 1000

SS

60

250

0.25 - 3

Glass

1.2

200

100 - 300

CS, Hastelloy C4

12

140

100

Ceramic

40

200

Low temperature equipment

Volume

Material of construction

Min. operating temperature [°C]

5 - 100

Glass

-40

63 - 600

Glass Lined

-80

 

Phosgenation unit equipment

Volume

Material of construction

Max. operating temperature [°C]

250 - 1600

Glass Lined

150

+ drying, rectification, distillation  and filtration capacity

Kilolab and Semi-pilot equipment

Material

Total volume [l]

Size

Number

From [l]

To [l]

Glass Lined

6 000

200

1 500

6

Stainless Steel

4 000

200

1 500

4

Glass

2 000

50

100

25

Glass Evoporators

200

50

100

2

+ drying, distillation  and filtration capacity

Clean Room class D

Material

Total volume [l]

Size

Number

From [l]

To [l]

Glass Lined

1 000

400

600

2

Stainless Steel

1 000

400

600

2

+ drying, distillation  and filtration capacity

Laboratory Equipment


Rectification Distillation

Rectification stills equipped with high performance packing (SS, Sulzer type), ranging in performance up to 60 theoretical plates.

Rectification still with conventional packing, separation performance 100 theoretical plates. Atmospheric / vacuum operation, fully automatic control system.

Distillation

Short-path evaporator - glass/stainless steel, operating temperature up to 250 deg C, vacuum down to 0.5 torr,  0.03m2 and 0,1m2

Hydrogenation

Experience collected mainly in areas of catalytic hydrogenation of nitro-groups (to resp. amines), carbonyl-groups (to alcohols), oximes (to amino-groups) and reductive cyclisation.

Operating conditions: pressure up to 20 bar, batch volume up to 8 l, temperature up to 150 deg C. Automatic control & monitoring, possibility to be run in a semi-continuous regime (reactants feeding during reaction by metering pumps).

Pressure operation

Typical operations include alkylations, aminations, oxidations, pressure re-crystallisation.

Operating conditions: pressure up to 50 bar, heating up to 250°C (automatical control), possibility to be run in a semi-continuous way (see above).

Lower-temperature syntheses

Used mainly for special chlorinations (using PCl5) and nitrations in jacketed glass equipment. Operating conditions: temperature typically at - 25°C, batch volume up to 20 l, semi-continuous regime possible, inert gas blanketing as a standard.

Auxiliary equipment

In addition, the reactors are equipped with various accessories for distilling, azeotropic distillation, reflux, and computer control system of operating conditions. The apparatuses are connected with absorption and adsorption units. Numerous tanks, pumps, piping [stainless, glass, plastic] and hose connection sections [PTFE], mixers, dryers and heat transfer systems [steam, brine and hot oil] are available.