More and more manufacturing procedures take advantage of so-called micro reactors as an environmentallyfriendly – and resource-saving alternative. These »miniaturised chemistry factories« allow a precise control of the reaction conditions and reduce the use of environment-endangering materials.

In cooperation with the Bayer AG the company CPC Cellular Process Chemistry Systems GmbH developed a production procedure for the manufacturing of anise aldehyde, an additive used within galvanizing. The Institute for Technical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry of the Friedrich-Schiller- University Jena produced an eco-balance comparing the conventional process-engineering with the newly developed procedure.

It showed a clearly higher efficiency for the micro reaction technology. The solvent demand, the number of necessary rinsing- and cleaning steps, the amount of waste and the energy expenditure was clearly lower. The advantages involve also safety features: due to low material quantities, potential leakages or explosions are much more harmless.

Environmentally-friendly, economical and safe chemical reactions are also possible for huge production volumes. Micro reactors allow an optimized process-engineering, interconnected with a high exploiting and a reduced resource demand.