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1 Ausgabe 55 • 2014

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THALETEC LABTEC EQUIPMENTEVERYTHING STARTS OFF SMALL page 2

THALETEC ONLINEYOUTUBE CHANNEL page 9

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY TRADE FAIRACHEMA 2015 page 9

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2 Issue 58 • 2014

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THALE-mail takes a break for the summer.The next THALE-mail will appear in September 2014.

THALETEC

Ersatzteile

Spare Parts

THALETEC LabTec equipment for research, development, kilo lab and technical centre

In the development of new active agents in the pharmaceutical industry or in the production of substances in fine and speciality chemicals, beginnings are often small.

The first trials still take place in the Erlenmeyer flask. Should a method be transferred to production scale, the route often followed in practice is via a technical centre or a so-called kilo lab. Here typical process plant equipment, in which the chemical process or synthesis is first tested and optimised in small-capacity devices, is installed.

Only when sufficient experience has been gained with the scale-up is a move made to the plant next up in size until in the end the transfer has reached the production plant.

In some cases, the scale-up ends early with relatively low-volume equipment and installations being used, viz. when only small quantities or particularly high quali-ty products are to be manufactured.

In both cases, process equipment and components are required which are able to do on a small scale what is essentially also possible in the large-scale plant. For the first case - the process engineering scale-up - it is also essential that the „small” equipment should have as great a similarity as possible, geometrically and functionally, with the large, because only then is a scale-up which is appropriate and promising possible.

With equipment and components from the LabTec Series, THALETEC now offers a comprehensive modular system and concept for process development on a small scale.

LabTec comprises, in the first development stage, all parts, components and elements to do with glass-lined agitated tanks.

Below you can see which they are in detail.

Figure 1:A process plant at production scale - but until that stage is reached, several scale-up steps are often necessary – here THALETEC LabTec is the solution

Everything starts off small

Revised and comprehensive spare parts catalogueavailableWith immediate effect a completely revised spare parts catalogue is available to download.

The spare parts catalogue can be downloaded here as a pdf file.

You can request a printed copy by e-mail to service@thaletec.com.

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3 Issue 58 • 2014

Glass-lined reactors under 100 l volume

Exchangeable agitator with the MultiFlex-Lab System

Agitators to 5 kW drive power

On a small scale, the use of vessels made of chemically resistant borosilicate glass is not uncommon.

However, if processes are run under pres-sure and with the need for rapid heating or good cooling of the container contents, only low-volume glass-lined equipment can make universal usability a reality.

THALETEC offers reactors with a jacket or not tempered in any design but which are also geometrically similar to large tanks.

Usually, the equipment has a glass-lined flat lid, allowing easy cleaning and good

For process development and optimi-sation, it is of great importance that the agitator unit should, as far as geometrically possible, correspond exactly to the „big brother” in the large-scale plant. Only in that way can it be ensured that the agitati-on technology findings can be transferred on a small scale to the production plant.To meet this requirement, THALETEC has developed the MultiFlex-Lab agitation system. At the end of a glass-lined agitator shaft is a conical grinding area, as is also fa-miliar from the laboratory flasks frequently to be encountered.

access to the nozzle and connections. Alternatively, the lid may of course also be made from glass-lined steel (Figure 2).

This highly precisely-ground area on the agitator shaft „fits” onto the likewise coni-cally ground bore of a completely glass-lined agitator unit. Small-scale agitators are available which are suitable for LabTec equipment. Bearing in mind the use as pressure vessels, the agitators are fitted with a double-acting mechanical seal.

Small-scale agitators suitable for LabTec equipment are available. Taking their use as pressure vessels into account, the agitators are fitted with a double mechanical seal.

Figure 2: Glass-lined reactor in a laboratory facility in conjunction with glass components

Figure 3: View of the shaft outlet with sterile dry-running mechanical seal

Figure 4: Multiflex-Lab connection system with Flat Blade Turbine (FBT)

Double-acting mechanical seals with liquid blocking are also available as well as ultra-modern, GMP-compliant, dry-running or gas film lubricated mechanical seals.

Mechanical seals which are easy to access and clean due to the „sterile seal” design on the product side are preferably used (Figure 3).

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4 Issue 58 • 2014

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Using an easily manageable mounting device, the agitator is simply pressed onto the shaft outlet and its hold is „rock solid”. Disassembly is carried out with the same equipment in reverse.

The cooling of the agitator shaft with liquid nitrogen, as required in the case of larger agitation systems, is not necessary here. The agitating elements are fully glass-lined with high quality technical glass-lining and in design an almost exact scaled-down design of agitating elements which are available in the same manner for large agitated tanks.

Because of the geometrical similarity, a scale-up of the technical results is distinct-ly possible.

With the help of an ancillary manufactu-ring process „printed” directly from the CAD program from a metallic material suitable for glass lining, agitator units for the THALETEC LabTec programme can now also be manufactured generatively. As a result, the scale-up is even easier.

Furthermore, with the „selective laser mel-ting” process, components which would not be produced via conventional manu-facturing processes - or if they were, then only at an uneconomically high cost - can be materialised.

An example that may be quoted is a so-called „hollow agitator unit” with internal structures which are tempered with a liquid medium.

Figure 5: Selection from the MultiFlex-Lab agitator unit program

Figure 6: TTT Thermal Transfer Turbine - Hollow agi-tator unit with an internal structure which can be used for the tempering of agitated liquids (left CAD model, right: generatively produced glass-lined agitator unit)

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5 Issue 58 • 2014

Figure 7: THALETEC flexsens 100 temperature sensor installed in a baffle, seal-welded for GMP reasons directly to the flat lid of the equipment

In product development, easiness of cleaning stands alongside the optimum functioning of the equipment – though changes in products frequently stand in line.

To ensure easiness of cleaning, THALETEC relies on the following solutions:

• The use of a sterile mechanical seal is the ideal solution for the easy cleaning of the agitator connection and the parts in contact with the mechanical seal

• Should a DIN mechanical seal be used, the use of a glass-lined CIP base

Figure 8: THALETEC QuickTip at the lower end of a baffle/temperature measurement tip for quick and accurate temperature measu-rement

Fast-response temperature measurement with THALETEC QuickTip and flexsens 100

Easiness of cleaning ensured

The Pt100 temperature probe flexsens 100 is a flexible temperature probe with two Pt100 elements which can be operated in a 4-wire connection with and without a transmitter, even in a hazardous area.

It does not differ from the temperature probes which are also used in large vessels – so trouble-free scaling is ensured.

Even the ease of use, as already familiar from large vessels, is likewise available on a small scale.

Thus, the sensor can be easily replaced or calibrated on site. The temperature sensor is usually built into a baffle.

In order to ensure a particularly short response time (comparable to a tantalum sensor) and high accuracy of measure-ment, the temperature sensors are, on re-quest, fitted with a THALETEC QuickTip, a measurement tip responding particularly fast to changes in temperature (Figure 8).

flange in which a flushing ring or a collecting cup is integrated is suitable for the cleaning of the neck of the nozzle and the parts of the shaft seal in contact with it.

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6 Issue 58 • 2014

• The use of a f lat vessel lid with nozzle connections which are conical in design also improves the accessibility and cleanability of the component.

• Sealing surfaces are always an area which can pose problems when cleaning. It is therefore desirable to minimize the length of the seal. For this purpose, THALETEC offers, for example, sight glass units in which the sight glass is fused in pressure-resistant and seal-less form into a glass-lined steel element. Moreover, it sometimes makes sense to weld the baffles directly to the vessel lid in the case of small agitated tanks and so avoid a sealed flange connection. Furthermore, it is expedient to replace sealed flange connections by cylind-rical joints which are gas-, liquid- and pressure-tight.

• To monitor the inward and outward wetted lines, ring sight glasses which are only sealed with two flange gas-kets, which can be flanged into a tube, are easy to clean and not prone to product adhesions due to the geomet-

Figure 9: Glass-lined mechanical seal base flange with CIP cleaning ring or with drip cup

Figure 10: Ring sight glass for installation in tubes or directly onto the equipment nozzle

ry on the part of the product being free of undercuts, can also be used

(Figure 10)

• When it is particularly narrow on the flat lid and there is no more space for the requisite nozzles, the connection nozzles can be implemented as a

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7 Issue 58 • 2014

Figure 13: THALETEC QuickPort - GMP -compliant quick-opening lid with removable and easily cleanable seal seat

Figure 11: Angled connection pieces on a flat lid make room for more

Figure 12: THALETEC Polyport glass-lined collector with pressure-resistant and seal-less fused sight glass for inspection or lighting

straight tube or a tube bend, thereby allowing more room to be created on the flat lid for other connections and cleanability to be positively influenced further (Figure 11).

• Additional nozzles can be fitted so as to build up, on existing equipment nozzles, GMP-compliant collectors which can be inspected. The glass-lined THALETEC Polyport (Figure 12) collector is particularly well suited to the task. Lateral nozzles can be fitted onto a tubular component, as a client

wishes. The component is equipped on one side with a seal- and pressure-resistant fused sight glass so that the interior of the collector can be inspec-ted at any time.

Alternatively, a lighting unit can be constructed which in turn helps to save nozzles.

The THALETEC Quick Port quick-opening lid is the solution for a rapid and safe opening, filling or sampling of the technical centre equipment (Figure 13).

The QuickPort is a quick-locking lid which can be safely locked with just three hand-operated tommy screws. The lid is made entirely of stainless steel; the wetted parts are only high-quality borosi-licate glass and PTFE. The seal seat can be removed without tools and easily cleaned or sterilised. Accessories, such as connection

adapters or a filling funnel round off the product range. The QuickPort quick-opening lid is available in two nominal widths: DN 100 and DN 150 This corresponds to the nominal size of the filling opening size as well as of the sight glass size.

Open quickly, fill comfortably and sample safely

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8 Issue 58 • 2014

Figure 14: Vertically-mounted, glass-lined conden-ser from the firm Büchi AG (Büchi factory image)

Figure 15: THALETEC EnerEx: glass-lined tube bundle heat exchanger

For applications in the kilo lab and tech-nical centres, it is essential in the case of the requisite heat exchangers that these should be chemically resistant, thermal shock resistant, easily inspectable, cleana-ble and resistant to pressure surges.

These requirements are met by vertically-installed, glass-lined condensers with a glass jacket (Figure 14).

An excellent distillation performance as a result of the very good heat trans-fer coefficients of the glass-lined tube bundle and the possible, higher operating pressures and the achievable flow rates are the main features of this innovative product, which is based on the seal-less glass-lined tube bundle heat exchangers of THALETEC GmbH, tried and tested over many years.

The THALETEC EnerEx tube bundle heat exchanger can be implemented with exchange areas between 1 m² and 30 m², and thus covers the entire spectrum of process equipment from kilo lab scale to large plant scale.

The heat exchanger consists of a highly-resistant glass-lined straight tube bundle with minimal heat transfer resistance due to the high precision glass-lining. The tube plates are made of a thermally stable and mechanically resistant PTFE compound.

The sealing between tubes and the tube plate is by means of inexpensive elastome-ric O-rings. For plant safety, the tube plates on the product side and service side are separated from each other, so leakage mo-nitoring of the sealing points is possible.

In the case of applications up to 6 bar pres-sure on the shell side, a glass-lined outer shell is available; in the case of applications with only slight pressure, a glass shell can also be used. The heat exchanger is desi-

Büchi reports that the robustness of the glass-lined tube bundle and its high corrosion resistance are the basic requi-rements for reliable daily use under harsh operating conditions.

The easy cleanability and compliance with the GMP-requirements are also essential qualities of this innovative product.

gned in such a way that each tube can be replaced easily at any time, even without the exchanger having to be disassembled.

In addition, the tubes can be checked in the installed state for damage; this is an advantage which is not to be underestima-ted if the availability of the equipment is an important criterion.

More efficient heat exchange with glass-lined heat exchangers

EnerEx: glass-lined tube bundle heat exchanger

Innovative vertically mounted condenser from the firm Büchi AG

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9 Issue 58 • 2014

This paper proposes only a few THALETEC „standard solutions” which are now availa-ble as „LabTec”.

But the implementation of very specific and individual client requirements is also possible at any time. Simply contact us, we are happy to work with you – to devise and

The leading exhibition for the chemical industry, ACHEMA, is looming even now.

Between the 15th and the 19th of June 2015 the „Who's Who” of process technology meets in Frankfurt to introduce innovations and new products.

prepare the optimum glass-lined LabTec equipment from the standard solutions and the problem solutions developed individually for you.

Of course THALETEC also works closely with the most important and most inno-vative manufacturers of technical glass

As in 2012, you will find THALETEC GmbH’s stand at the tried and tested location in Hall 5.1, Stand C 64.

We look forward to you joining us in an ex-citing fair week with many new glass-lined equipment items.

We are again happy to make free entran-ce tickets available to you.

Simply send an e-mail to info@thaletec.com and claim your perso-nal entrance tickets today.

Conclusions

equipment and components in order to bring your customized small system into being for you.

Contact us – we can definitely be of assistance.

THALETEC with its own channel on YouTube

THALETEC at ACHEMA 2015 (15th to 19th June 2015)

THALETEC has for some time been run-ning a video channel of its own on the YouTube online platform. There you will find brief and vividly descriptive videos on a variety of THALETEC products and innovative solutions. Another focus of the videos offered is the clarification of mixing technology solutions.

Visit the YouTube channel regularly or subscribe to it, so as to always be up to date.

The YouTube channel can be found if you follow this link , or by typing „THALETEC” in the search bar on YouTube.