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Project Partners Partners in the PILLS project are drawn from six EU member states. They include a knowledge transfer company, two SMEs, two manufacturers of equipment and three potential end-users thereof. Manufacturers of two complimentary continuous processing systems (micro and meso-scale) will combine forces with three end-users (two of whom are engaged on pre-competitive research).
 Chemistry Innovation is funded by the UK government as a Knowledge Transfer Network. Its main aim is to help the chemistry using industries in the UK to access, from a single source, the knowledge base in science, engineering and manufacturing, thereby enabling those industries to innovate faster and more successfully. The activity of Chemistry Innovation is not limited to the traditional chemical industry, its role covers any sector which uses chemistry and therefore spans materials, biotechnology, home and personal care, food and other industries which rely on chemistry in some aspect of their business Chemistry Innovation builds on the foundations of three successful Faraday Partnerships, one of which, Crystal Faraday, focused on sustainable chemical technologies. It also has strong links to other Knowledge Transfer Networks and an extensive network of companies, universities and RTO’s. It has particularly close relationships with Government and Research Councils and with learned societies such as the Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Royal Society of Chemistry. Chemistry Innovation has a core team of 20 people with deep, diverse experience in business, innovation, knowledge transfer, chemistry and chemical engineering - most with many years of experience as front-line practitioners and managers at senior levels. (Back to the top)  Huntsman Corp. is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Its operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging. Huntsman today has 14,000 employees and over 75 operations in 24 countries. The Polyurethanes Technology headquarters are based in Belgium with over 200 scientist and engineers from a variety of educational and cultural backgrounds. Our expertise on process technology development, advanced chemical engineering design, state-of-the-art modelling and simulation, environmental and operating safety assessments will be applied during the PILLS project. This industrial expertise on hazardous chemicals, manufacturing processes, engineering and process safety will be used during the whole development of the PILLS project. Huntsman is committed to achieving excellence in environmental, health and safety (EHS) protection in all our operations. Huntsman engineers will ensure that the potential hazards and risks associated with the design, construction and operation of the Experimental Research Facility are eliminated or mitigated by defining, implementing and auditing strict safety standards and procedures during the PILLS project. (Back to the top)  Givaudan is the leading company in the flavours and fragrance business. Its rich heritage dates back to 1796, making it the first company to establish itself as a creator of tastes and scents. In 2006, the company achieved sales of CHF 2.9 billion with a workforce of almost 6,000 and a presence in over 100 countries. Its wide range of expertise is categorized under the following pillars: Sensory Intelligence, Sensory Creation, Sensory Technology, and Sensory Science. By further developing these capabilities, Givaudan can accomplish its goal of becoming the Essential Source of Sensory Innovation. Givaudan's Fragrance Ingredients business unit focuses on the design, production and commercialization of Perfumery raw materials. Most of the materials are patented specialty chemicals that were first developed at Givaudan research centres. Thanks to a continuing effort, Givaudan has become a leading company in terms of new molecules patents. This is driven by a strong company commitment, upstream research and strong instrumental support. Through its leadership in Sensory Innovation, Givaudan is highly committed to providing its customers with solutions offering unique sensory profiles and improved performance. Research and Development continue to strengthen Givaudan’s links with academic and industrial partners, enhancing its position at the cutting edge of science and technology. Outside collaborations provide a complement to the internal innovation programmes. They are a mechanism to investigate a broad spectrum of emerging technologies which might lead to co-development opportunities. Givaudan Head Quarters are located in Vernier near Geneva in Switzerland. The Vernier site is also the largest Fragrance compounds and Fragrance ingredients manufacturing centre in the Group. (Back to the top)  The Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH (IMM) is a German non-profit research and technology institute having a public service mission. IMM is solely owned by the local government of German federal state Rhineland-Palatinate. Its business is the investigation and development of technical applications of microstructures and micro system technology in various fields such as Chemical Process Engineering, Energy Technology, Biological/Medical Analytics and Diagnostics as well as Industrial Analytics. IMM has carried out or is currently working at more than 40 projects funded by the European Community covering topics from chemical process engineering, micro fluidics, micro fabrication and micro optics. Due to a huge number of international and national projects IMM has a broad expertise in design, development and realization of marketable micro-devices. Concerning the manufacturing of micro structured devices, various methods are available in-house, e.g. mechanical micro-machining, electro discharge machining, laser material processing and thin film technologies. Since 2001 the IMM is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001. The present organizational structure consists of the five R&D-departments Fluidics & Simulation, Mixing & Fine Chemistry, Energy Technology & Catalysis, Micro Structuring & Sensors and Precision Engineering. The Department Mixing & Fine Chemistry of IMM is a leading partner in micro reaction technology with its broad portfolio of different microstructured mixers, heat exchangers and the process development knowledge. Furthermore, there are some experiences in assembling small plants. Different projects paved the way for an intensified understanding of process intensification by application of (micro)structured components and also of mixing and dispersion processes, namely the publicly founded project IMPULSE (dealing with the transfer of structured components from lab to pilot- and production scale) and the BMBF-founded project POKOMI (16SV1984; dealing with 2-phase polycondensation Suzuki-reaction). Nonetheless, still missing is a structured procedure for process design based on (micro)structured equipment for two phase reactions and an in depth knowledge about structure and performance relationship of (micro)structured reactors in the case of two phase systems. Within the PILLS project, IMM is mainly active in WP3 “Development of tailored structured devices” developing and realising finally (micro)structured pilot reactors for both experimental facilities IMM will lead this work package. Reactor realisation will be based on the fabrication technologies available at IMM but also on external fabrication technologies. IMM will assist furthermore in the context of WP4 in the assembly of the pilot plants and also in the integration of the pilot reactors therein. In WP2 IMM will support Whole Process Design considerations from the process intensifying components side in Task 2.1 and Task 2.8. IMM is also involved in the determination of reaction and kinetic data. Furthermore, IMM is leading Task 2.3 dealing with flow pattern in microstructures in order to implement results in WP3 for reactor design. To a smaller degree IMM will also help in setting up training materials (WP6.3): The team at IMM has been involved in a vast number of projects related to area of Micro Chemical Process Engineering and thus covers a tremendous wealth of know-how and expertise in this field. IMM´s previous participation in EU projects was already indicated above. (Back to the top)  Formed in 1998 via a partnership between leading EU pharmaceutical and fine chemical companies and academia, Britest Limited is a not-for-profit international SME company, registered and regulated as a limited company within UK & Wales (Registration number 04185316). Britest is primarily concerned with the development of methodologies and tools to help process technologists (chemists, process engineers etc) to develop and design new processes better, smarter and quicker. In the PILLS project, therefore, it is involved with those aspects of the work where methodological development is required. Due to the nature of its organisation, Britest is very experienced at the implementation of collaborative R&D projects, both within its membership and in wider collaborations such as the FP6 IMPULSE project (for instance, Britest took the leading role in the Information Exchange and Analysis task with IMPULSE, which has been essential to the integration of this large collaborative project). Within WP2, Britest will use its existing expertise in whole process design to analyse the exemplar processes used in WP4. This will ensure that appropriate whole-process configurations are adopted in the process-specific work within PILLS. Britest will lead work package WP5 on generic information collection and analysis and methodological toolkit development. As explained above, Britest is uniquely placed to facilitate this type of generic information analysis and methodology development. Britest will also lead work package WP6 on dissemination and training. Britest has long experience of both training and other dissemination mechanisms in an industrial context, because of the need to implement the tools and methodologies in its members’ businesses. The Britest member companies will provide a useful resource for testing the draft training and dissemination materials produced in WP6. Dissemination of these materials to the Britest members will also ensure that the generic methodological learning developed in the PILLS project is implemented in chemical-using industries other than those directly represented within the PILLS consortium, specifically the high-added value pharmaceutical supply chain. (Back to the top)  EPLF Lausanne is one of the two Ecoles Polytechniques fédérales in Switzerland. Like its sister institution, ETHZ (ETH Zurich), it has three missions: education, research and technology transfer at the highest international level. Associated with several specialised research institutes, the two EPFs form the EPF domain, which is directly dependent on the Federal Department of Home Affairs. With more than 250 laboratories and research groups on campus, EPFL is one of Europe's most innovative and productive technology institutes. The School's unique structure facilitates transdisciplinary research and encourages partnerships with other institutions. EPFL emphasizes both fundamental research and engineering applications. Group of Catalytic Reaction Engineering (GGRC) at EPFL is a member of EU Network of Excellence in catalysis “IDECAT”. The research efforts are focused on the development of novel catalysts and catalytic reactors and the use of non-stationary methods for the characterization and optimization of catalytic processes. Also the group is actively involved in the area of microreactor technology and some projects on heterogeneous catalysis and liquid-liquid reactions have been successfully completed. The projects include methodological aspects supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation as well as practical aspects and case studies supported by the Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency, the European Community and Industry. (Back to the top)  Fluidinova is a high technology engineering company that provides consulting and design services through the development of new environmental technologies and industrial processes. Solutions are provided: directly to market by selling of equipment or licensing of technologies; or through R&D of innovative products or processes in partnership with national and international companies. Fluidinova business is carried out with industrial, institutional and governmental clients, targeted at: Architecture and engineering for buildings ambience; Water management and exploitation and environment protection; Transformation and Chemical industry. The NETmix® technology - Innovative Static Mixer Technology - enables the design of new chemical reactors, from micro-reactors to large-scale reactors, for the production of nanomaterials, emulsions, pharmaceutical products, high-added value chemicals and explosives. It has been successfully applied to the synthesis of hydroxyapatite (bioactive material used as bone substitute) nanoparticles. This work will constitute an important challenge to Fluidinova as a NETmix® technology provider, since it will test this technology under severe conditions that have not been tested so far in this kind of meso structured reactors. (Back to the top)  The University of Coimbra was founded in the XIIIth century and is one of the oldest European universities and the only University in Portugal until 1910. It has eight faculties being the Faculty of Science and Technology by far the biggest one, with approximately 7000 students, both graduate and undergraduate. It offers a large range of degrees in Engineering, Exact Sciences, Life Sciences, Architecture and Anthropology. The Faculty of Science and Technology from the University of Coimbra – FCTUC is determined to strengthen its standing as a Research University in the European landscape that will emerge after the implementation of the Bologna process. The Chemical Engineering Department (CED), founded in 1972, is one of the 14 Departments of FCTUC. The research activities of the CED are essentially carried through the research centre called CIEPQPF (standing for “Research Centre in Chemical Processes Engineering and Forest Products”), which was created in 1994. Its main objective is to significantly contribute for the advance of Science and Technology in the Chemical Engineering and related fields of research. In this research centre, the Process Systems Engineering group, GEPSI-PSE, carries out research in a broad range of Process Systems Engineering areas, including process modelling, product and process design, process control, optimization and data generation and analysis. As application areas, projects have been developed in fields such as polymerization, hydrogenation, fermentation and also on the pulp and paper industrial sector (pulping and bleaching kinetics, fibre and paper properties). This applied research has been carried out mainly with the support of EU, FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and AdI-Agência de Inovação which are Portuguese national science and technology foundations, and by the Portuguese industry. (Back to the top)  The Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology was established in 1970 as a continuation of the Chemical Engineering Department which was founded at University’s Faculty of Chemistry in 1947. The Faculty is one of the two in Poland, which holds the right to confer the habilitation degree in chemical engineering. In 2002, the Chemical Engineering Major offered by the Faculty received the High Quality of Education Certificate from the Conference of Polish University Rectors and in 2004 obtained accreditation at the National Accreditation Committee and commendation on the quality of education, which is a mark of distinction given to faculties that provide education at the highest European standard. Students of Chemical and Process Engineering major can choose from five specializations: Chemical Engineering, Bioprocess Engineering, Environmental Protection Process Engineering, Polymer Processing Engineering, and Biomedical Processes and Products. The Faculty also trains students of biotechnology major as a part of the Inter-Faculty Biotechnology Center. Together with the Faculty of Chemistry and Faculty of Material Science and Engineering a new school of advanced technologies has been launched in 2007 to combine the three faculties in order to enhance the educational offer, create and promote new majors and specializations, as well as to work on new teaching and research assignments. Currently, the Faculty’s main focus of research includes: multiphase reaction engineering, gas and liquid purification processes, bioprocess engineering, biomedical engineering, mathematical modelling and the optimal control of processing. The main tasks attributed to the staff members of the Division of Mechanical Engineering and Process Dynamics Department of Chemical and Process Engineering of WUT are related to modelling of the flow, mixing and chemical reactions in the structured devices designed in the project. (Back to the top)  CUF- Químicos Industriais S.A. (CUF_QI) is a Group of companies with operations based in Estarreja (Portugal) and works mainly in the Organic and Inorganic intermediates area. The company has the NP EN ISO 9001:2000 Quality Certification, the NP EN ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Certification and is also committed to Responsible Care Programme. Under the auspicious of CEFIC, CUF-QI and the others companies of Estarreja Chemical Site, received in 2005, the European Responsible Care Award for the PACOPAR project. CUF-QI is part of CUF company, the chemical branch of José de Mello Group, a Portuguese family owned holding with interest in Healthcare, Infrastructures, Finance and other economical activities. CUF-QI is a producer of industrial chemicals which are used in many different sectors, namely chemicals, pharmaceutical, food, textiles, water treatment, paper, etc. The tasks of CUF-QI in the PILLS project, will be the technical assessment mainly on reactors design (material choice, industrial feasibility) and the development of Experimental Research Facility (ERF). The CUF-QI members will also collaborate in the other work packages like simulations (WP2), advising and establishing bridges in order to serve the purposes of the project approaching the industrial aspects. (Back to the top) |
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