H.E.L Group Chemical Synthesis Reactors
H.E.L Group has a long history of solving complex challenges for customers. Since 1987, the Company has worked with businesses and laboratories globally, providing proprietary automated solutions for the pharma, biotechnology, chemical, battery, and petrochemical sectors.
In industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to fine chemicals, scaling-up bench-top chemical reactions to production volumes carries a number of risks and challenges.
From identifying active molecules, through to pilot-scale synthesis, H.E.L Group provides a comprehensive range of automated reaction systems to facilitate your chemical synthesis, covering everything from research to development, optimization, and scale-up.
From small-scale process development and Design of Experiment (DoE) to calorimetric studies, our systems offer essential features, including:
- Temperature control: to study the effect of temperature and thermal events on reactions
- Overhead stirring: to simulate manufacturing conditions as early as possible during development
- Data recording and reproducibility: our chemical synthesis systems are all automated and software-controlled. The data collected enables the understanding of the chemical process, as well as key insights for scale-up processes
- Multiple reactions: using our parallel synthesis range, ideal for DoE and reaction investigations studies
- Safety: minimize hazards and optimize reactions using our reaction calorimetry tools
Once the process has been defined at the bench scale, our scale-up solutions offer similar benefits to our process development range at pilot scale. These are ideal for performing proof-of-concept experiments before moving to the manufacturing scale.
With automation, process control, safety monitoring, and data capture through the labCONSOL platform, our systems support complex multi-parameter experiments where accuracy is paramount. Fully suited to automatic operation, with in-built safety hard-stops and recovery capabilities.
AutoLAB | Bench-Top Automated Reactor System
H.E.L’s fully customizable AutoLAB reactor platforms are designed, configured, and tailored to meet your specific process and application requirements. The modular and highly adaptable nature of the system enables the platform to evolve with your research and development interests.
Controlled by H.E.L’s powerful labCONSOL software platform, the AutoLAB supports a diverse range of applications, such as:
- Polymerization
- Crystallization
- Synthesis
- High- and low-pressure reactions
- Process optimization
- Kilo-pilot/production plant scale-up
AutoMATE | Linear, Automated Parallel Synthesis Platform
The AutoMATE is a highly versatile, linear, automated parallel synthesis platform, for use in general chemical synthesis within R&D and process development, as well as more bespoke applications. As with the PolyBLOCK, the independently controlled reaction zones make AutoMATE especially well-suited for DoE campaigns and the platform’s modular design allows for an easy expansion of capabilities. In particular, the linear reactor design of the AutoMATE makes it ideal for more demanding applications, such as where multiple inputs and outputs are required.
Application modules that can be added include:
- Solubility/crystallization monitoring
- Online calorimetry option
- Catalyst screening
The platform supports reactor volumes of up to 500 ml per reactor and is equipped with adaptors to support a range of reactor types and sizes, including integration with H.E.L’s catalyst screening CAT reactor blocks. Additional functionality modules include:
- Liquid dosing
- Gas feed
- Liquid sampling, including integration with the ASU
- Quick-connect refluxing option
- Quick-connect inerting solution
- pH monitoring
PolyBLOCK | Compact Automated Parallel Synthesis Platform
– 4 or 8 Independent reaction zones
–Independent temperature control (100 °C difference between zones, temperature range of -40 °C to +200 °C)
– Independent agitation control (250 to 1500 rpm, suspended mechanical or overhead stirring available)
– Small footprint – no larger than a typical laboratory notebook
– Use any combination of reaction vessels on one platform
– Intuitive control software with a choice of interfaces
With either four (PolyBLOCK 4) or eight (PolyBLOCK 8) independently controlled and monitored zones, PolyBLOCK 4 offers working volumes of up to 500 ml and PolyBLOCK 8 up to 120 ml. Reactor options range from 1 ml HPLC vials to round or flat-bottom flasks up to 250 ml and custom reaction vessels up to 500 ml.
Agitation in each zone is independently controlled and temperature monitoring and control is offered with either reactor and/or zone temperature.
ASU | Automated Liquid Sampling Unit
CrystalSCAN | Parallel Crystallization Monitoring Platform
The CrystalSCAN is a bench-top, automated, parallel crystallization monitoring platform, facilitating determination of solubility curves and the MSZW (metastable zone width) of multiple samples, and optimization of the desired crystallization process. The standard system supports 8, independently controlled reactors, each equipped with H.E.L’s proprietary crystallization monitoring probe, CrystalEYES.
In addition to automated stirring, heating, and cooling of each sample, the CrystalSCAN can automatically add solvent/anti-solvent of choice, diluting each sample independently at the end of each cycle. Consequently, data on the points of dissolution and the points of nucleation can be determined automatically under a range of experimental conditions, enabling solubility curves to be generated and the characterization of MSZW, respectively. While the former provides the basis for optimizing the desired crystallization process, the latter provides insights into the behavior of the process on larger scales, informing and facilitating process development.
CrystalEYES | Crystallization Monitoring Sensor
The need to study crystallization is widespread in the chemical industry due to the importance of solids as the final form of many products. H.E.L’s CrystalEYES makes it easy for chemists to determine the crystallisation and dissolution points of their solutions.
Crystal Eyes monitors and logs temperature, turbidity, and pH. The system includes a choice of probes, signal conditioning electronics, and a compact PC with preloaded software ready to use. H.E.L offers a range of probes for any scale: from a test tube (~2 ml) to a bench-scale (5 L). All probes are available in PEEK, stainless steel, or Hastelloy. Want to work at different scales?- Simply change the probe, no other changes needed to the electronics or software. The data is automatically recorded into .csv format, making it readily importable to Excel, or similar packages for analysis.
