Page 175 - CW E-Magazine (18-2-2025)

Special Report Continuous Manufacturing

Chemicals Ltd., pointed to the threat Advancing sustainability in pharmaceutical
posed by cheap imports and called
for speedy redressal of dumping by manufacturing: The role of continuous
the levy of suitable anti-dumping
duties. He, however, cautioned against green manufacturing in API production
an across-the-board increase in import
tariffs, as it could jeopardise the com- INTRODUCTION
petitiveness of consuming industrial Due to an unprecedented decrease in
sectors. fertility and mortality rates, the world’s
population is rapidly aging, increasing
Mr. Goculdas was confi dent that healthcare demands(1). This will result
with upliftment of rural economies, in a pressing need for affordable medi-
including by promoting tourism, cines, especially in developing regions.
consumption of all sorts of goods and The pharmaceutical industry is gearing
services will rise, indirectly benefi tting up for this challenge by systematically
the chemical industry. innovating its manufacturing processes
to win greater effi ciencies and mini-
Mr. Ravindra Boratkar, Managing mizing environmental burdens. While
Director, MM Activ Sci Tech Com- the bulk of active pharmaceutical
extrapolation of the past or whether the munications Pvt. Ltd., highlighted the ingredient (API) manufacturing is
industry is now in a new paradigm of important role of collaboration between currently done in stirred batch reactors,
growth. He also lamented the lack of industry and academia in order to solve the industry is increasingly investigating
innovation, especially in an academia- some of the technical problems facing continuous (or fl ow) production that are all carried out in essentially the reaction) and uses much less expen-
industrial setting, and stressed the need the industry and for augmenting pro- has been so effectively utilized by their same reactor confi guration. sive utilities. This is an example of a
for upgraded infrastructure to house the ductivity and competitiveness. counterparts in the energy and bulk fl ow process, i.e., continuous manu-
industry of the future. chemicals sectors. This force-fi tting has severe impli- facturing.
He also stressed the importance of cations for profi tability, operational
Mr. Raghavan also stated that communicating the virtues of the chemi- This report is by workers actively ease, and safety. For example, lithia- Green Chemistry, too, is a catch-
the fi ne chemical sector, in parti- cal industry to a sceptical audience – involved in batch to continuous transi- tions are swift reactions with time con- all term for a series of innovations
cular, is benefi tting from the China+1 society, in general, and government, in tions. It outlines the benefi ts and chal- stants of the order of seconds. In theory, that minimize the environmental foot-
sourcing strategy of large inter- particular. lenges of continuous green manufactur- they should be carried out in small-vol- print of a given transformation. Green
national buyers. “It is heartening to ing and describes some successes. The ume reactors. In practice, however, they Chemistry focuses on designing chemis-
note that more and more of crude oil Dr. Anil Kakodkar Valedictory session report is intended for groups seeking are carried out in large (~ 10 kL) stirred tries that minimize the use and gene-
refi ning companies are eyeing petro- Mr. Samir Somaiya, Chairperson During the valedictory ceremony, a more sustainable and responsible tanks, which are cooled to cryogenic ration of hazardous substances, reduce
chemicals as a sustainable growth op- and Managing Director, Godavari Bio- Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Rajiv pharmaceutical industry. temperatures to keep the reaction slow waste, and enhance energy effi ciency.
portunity and investments in world- refi neries Ltd., pointed to the abun- Gandhi Science & Technology Com- enough for the heat transfer surfaces to
scale plants are at last happening.” dance of bio-based resources in the mission, and former Secretary, Depart- The case for continuous green remove the exotherm. There is also the Flow processing provides excep-
country, and how some of this is being ment of Atomic Energy, delivered an manufacturing constant threat of uncontrolled addition tional synergies with Green Chemis-
Mr. N.B. Godrej, Chairperson & leveraged by his companies to make insightful address refl ecting on India’s Flow processing is a catch-all term that would result in major industrial try. For example, it opens up a more
Managing Director, Godrej Industries fuels and speciality chemicals. journey of growth. for a series of innovations that essen- incidents. This is a severely sub-optimal signifi cant window of opportunities
Ltd., stressed the role of Green Chemis- tially constitute designing equipment use of resources and a highly hazardous for temperature and pressure operating
try in improving the environmental He also pointed to several measures He emphasized the energy tran- around the chemistry rather than the manner of operation. conditions. It offers much tighter con-
compliance of the industry, by lower- undertaken to improve sugarcane pro- sition, underscoring the crucial role conventional practice of force-fi tting trol over residence times, heating, and
ing waste generation in processes and ductivity, including through the use of of nuclear energy and renewables in the chemistry to a stirred batch reac- A far better solution would be to quenching rates.
by enabling safer, more energy effi - ‘smart farming technologies’, such as tackling the global energy crisis and tor. One can imagine a future chemical design smaller volume reactors with
cient routes of manufacturing. He also sensors to measure soil parameters, achieving net zero. He also stressed the technologist looking back to our era greater volumetric heat transfer area to Thus, by appropriately choosing
highlighted the efforts of the Godrej notably micronutrient content, moisture importance of overcoming challenges and marveling at how transformations rapidly remove the exotherm produced the chemistry and designing the reac-
Group of companies to diversify its levels, etc. to build a sustainable future, aligning as varied as lithiation, Grignard syn- by the reactor operated near ambient tor around it, continuous green manu-
work-force, specifi cally by employing with the vision of a developed India thesis, nitration, reactive precipitations, conditions. This limits the in-process facturing can signifi cantly reduce the
women in larger numbers, including at Mr. Bimal Goculdas, Managing driven by technological and scientifi c heterogeneously catalyzed hydrogena- inventory to a few liters at most (mini- environmental footprint and greatly
the plant level. Director & CEO, DMCC Specialty advancements. tions, esterifi cation, and fermentations mizing the consequences of a runaway increase the safety and profi tability of

174 Chemical Weekly February 18, 2025 Chemical Weekly February 18, 2025 175

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