Hydrogenation & gas liquid reactor systems

Hydrogenation & gas liquid reactions: From screening to production scale

Buchiglas is a leading manufacturer of hydrogenation systems and chemical pressure reactor systems. The stirred autoclaves and pressure reactors are designed to handle demanding gas-liquid reactions, ensuring a seamless scale-up from laboratory hydrogenation to full industrial hydrogenation plants.

Hydrogenation is a cornerstone of chemical synthesis. Whether the application involves reducing a double bond, saturating an aromatic ring, or removing a protecting group, the principle remains the same. Gas reacts with a substrate in the presence of a catalyst. From heterogeneous suspensions and homogeneous chiral complexes to transfer hydrogenation, Buchiglas designs reactor systems that support these core processes seamlessly, starting from the first 10ml screening experiment and ensuring consistent design continuity for scale-up to production capacities up to 600 liters in stainless steel or Hastelloy ® .

The right catalyst contact mode directly affects conversion, selectivity, and reproducibility. Slurry phase operation works well for many applications but makes separation difficult. To optimize this, Buchiglas offers specialized reactor internals:

A reaction that performs successfully at lab scale may behave completely differently at a larger scale. Scaling up to 500 liter cGMP compliant production requires specific engineering adjustments in mass transfer, mixing efficiency, heat removal, and gas distribution. Buchiglas addresses these demands by offering customized pressure reactor systems that support seamless scaling up or down at every stage of development. Featuring highly flexible, interchangeable vessels and completely adaptable configurations, these solutions allow for the easy integration of specialized accessories, such as sampling systems, automated valves, and control systems (PLC) while offering full ATEX compliance for hazardous areas to ensure a safe, step by step transition designed to exact process requirements.

Buchiglas acts as a dedicated partner throughout the project lifecycle, providing deep technical and regulatory expertise from the initial planning stages until the equipment is running successfully on the production floor.

Right from the initial planning phase, Buchiglas supports the customer’s process design to ensure an optimal scale-up path before any hardware is manufactured. Because achieving efficient gas-liquid dispersion and keeping solid catalysts uniformly suspended becomes highly complex at larger volumes, Buchiglas utilizes detailed CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Analysis. By mathematically modeling fluid mechanics and mass transfer based on the customer's specific process parameters, we customize the ideal impeller geometries and reactor configurations to eliminate dead zones and detect challenges before the pressure reactor build is finished.

Our support continues directly at your facility to ensure a smooth transition into a regulated production environment. In cGMP manufacturing, equipment parameters need to be strictly verified to keep batches within their validated operating windows. To make process reactor validation straightforward and repeatable, Buchiglas provides detailed qualification documentation execution according to a structured Qualification Project Plan (QPP). Buchiglas supports the final commissioning steps on-site, providing IQ and OQ protocols to ensure the customized system is fully compliant and operational from day one.