Commercial Development and Technology Transfer of an Agricultural Chemical

Project Objectives

Perform pilot-scale evaluation of an alternate manufacturing approach for production of an agricultural chemical. Prepare a sample of the product, using the alternate manufacturing approach, for use in formulation verification studies.

Client Profile/Project Background

Our client, a multibillion dollar diversified chemical company, has been manufacturing a particular agricultural chemical for a number of years. Their chemical process development staff devised an alternate method for production and isolation of the product which, if successfully implemented, would decrease manufacturing cost, reduce waste generation, and produce the product in a form more suitable for packaging and formulation. Ricerca was retained to perform a pilot-scale evaluation of the process which the client had developed on the laboratory scale.

Results/Status

The project involved conversion of the product precursor by an alternate reaction sequence, followed by isolation of the technical material as a flake. A customized test unit comprising a 100-gallon reactor, a 500-gallon reactor, a thin-film evaporator, and a drum flaker was designed and built by Ricerca. The project was conducted in close collaboration with the client's engineers and chemists. Processing was complicated by the presence of trace amounts of a highly toxic byproduct and the susceptibility of the technical product to thermal degradation. The client's process alternative scaled well and was demonstrated to be clearly technically superior to the presently used process. The improved process technology is now in the early stages of design for eventual retrofit into the manufacturing complex.