Using batch reactor results to calculate optimal flow rates for the scale-up of UV photochemical reactions

Abstract

The perceived difficulty of the scale-up of photochemistry is one of the main obstacles preventing its widespread use. Herein, we take three different challenging reactions and show that they can be reliably scaled, from immersion well batch reactors to higher power FEP flow reactors. Key to the success has been the development of a powerful calculation methodology which enables the accurate calculation of reactor flow rates from these and previously optimised batch reactions. Despite the challenging nature of these systems, in all cases tens of grams of material was obtained.