Continuous Flow
Since the start of the 2000s, La Mesta has invested in developing equipment that provides continuous production of fine chemicals on an industrial scale. In 2004, the first device called Raptor made it possible to test continuous flow reactions. Starting in 2007, a production campaign for a fragrance ingredient was launched, marking the start of the industrial use of the equipment. Since 2017, two automated production facilities have been dedicated to this technology.
The Raptor is a tubular reactor with a one-litre reactional chamber equipped with independent agitation and providing very efficient thermal transfer. It can safely handle dangerous reagents and highly exothermic reactions on an industrial scale through the miniaturisation of the system.
It can also work under and/or support high pressures up to 300 bar as well as extreme temperatures ranging from -100°C to + 250°C. The residence time is generally between a few seconds and one minute.
The material used for its design, Hastelloy, makes it very resistant, even in more corrosive conditions.
These characteristics make it possible to create extremely intense conditions (temperature, pressure, concentration) while also optimising operating conditions. This technology helps to reduce the solvent and reagent quantities and thus limit the amount of generated waste. This makes the Raptor an indispensable device for La Mesta in its revamping of processes with the goal of decreasing its environmental impact.
This innovative technology allows us to respond to various, existing problematics in Chemical manufacturing (safety, technicality, use of sensitive materials, energy consumption, etc.).
This tool is currently used on a routine, industrial scale for numerous products on all of our markets, including pharmaceuticals and flavours and fragrances by responding to the requirements of good manufacturing practices (GMP) as well as the FSSC 22000 (food safety) certification.
After more than fifteen years of investment and development, it now makes up thirty per cent of our revenue, which is generated through products that use the Continue/Raptor technology in at least one step of their production.
La Mesta is one of the very few fine chemical companies in the world that can implement a versatile continuous flow manufacturing technology.