NiTech Solutions has announced that its continuous technology has been successfully deployed by Croda in a new process that cuts cycle times to just two minutes instead of 10 hours, also giving major cost and carbon savings.

The innovative process by the British multinational speciality chemicals company delivers annual savings of 360 tonnes of water and 580 tonnes of steam, along with reducing CO2e by 86 tonnes/year, the equivalent of charging 9,000 electric cars

Croda is successfully running the process at commercial-scale and the use of a NiTech continuous oscillatory baffled reactor has enabled the company to double capacity without the need for a building expansion.

The project, also undertaken with CPI and the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing in the UK, has won two major industry awards. The Chemical Industry Association (CIA) gave its Innovation Award to the project, while judges at the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) declared Croda the winner of its 2023 Process Intensification Award for Industrial Innovation.

Dr Will Davies, CEO of NiTech Solutions, commented: “The success of this project, both technically and economically, is an important milestone in the journey of industrial-scale adoption of NiTech’s continuous processing technology.  It demonstrates the power of collaboration between technology provider and end-user, and we are delighted the joint success of our work with Croda has received this recognition.”

Continuous technology can significantly reduce the environmental burden of processes over their lifetime by reducing energy requirements, increasing atom efficiency and minimising transportation.

Croda said the smaller footprint and inherently safe design with lower volumes also has a positive impact on its neighbours by lowering the process risk profile.

From a commercial standpoint, the technology can be operated in small, modular units that can produce market-relevant quantities of product for local consumption, reducing shipping costs and minimising impacts on the environment.

In addition, capital investment can be phased to match sector growth, with new competitive units added as and when required.

Croda is now focusing attention on its other batch manufacturing processes and the company has expanded trials in different chemistries.