Fine chemicals: Membrane technology in the fine chemicals industry
Fine chemicals: Membrane technology in the fine chemicals industry
Fine chemicals are chemicals produced in small-to-medium quantities but their definition is imprecise and wide ranging, including pharmaceuticals. Here we concentrate on agrichemicals, specialist chemicals and high purity chemicals typically synthesised in small batches for producing products such as dyes, pigments, coatings, flavors, fragrances, lubricants and microelectronic grade chemicals.
Introduction
In an issue of Filtration+Separation, published in July/August 2008, Ken Sutherland outlined the range of products produced in the chemicals industry. He focused on bulk chemicals but gave a useful summary of the chemicals industry as a whole, including pharmaceuticals and biotechnical products. This represented the largest sector of the membrane market in 2007, with 30.6% of the global total. The fine chemicals sector represents around a quarter of the whole membranes chemical market. This smaller sector is characterised by a range of diverse applications for membrane technology, covering three main aspects:
• production of process water, subsequently utilised in the manufacturing process or in the dilution of fine chemicals;
• filtration and separation of the fine chemicals themselves; and
• treatment of effluent from fine chemicals production processes.
Fine chemicals are pure, single substances that are typically produced by chemical reactions for highly specialised applications. The fine chemicals produced can be categorised into active pharmaceutical ingredients and their intermediates, agrichemicals, speciality chemicals and high-purity chemicals for technical applications.
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In contrast to bulk chemicals, which are produced in massive quantities by standardised reactions for subsequent direct use, fine chemicals are custom-produced in smaller quantities for special uses. The methods of production need to be flexible, and owing to the relatively small volumes required and the diversity of types, the definition of fine chemicals is wide ranging. Production is more expensive than for bulk chemicals, generates more effluent that can be difficult to treat, and requires a higher research investment per unit weight produced. Fine chemicals are, however, produced in industrial quantities unlike research chemicals, but batch production tends to be common as opposed to continuous production for bulk chemicals.
Excluding pharmaceutical chemicals and their intermediaries, the remaining types of fine chemicals covered here include:
Agrichemicals
These mainly include biocides, pesticides, herbicides and other specialised chemicals that are used in agriculture to inhibit or kill pests and weeds and improve crop yields.
Specialist chemicals
These are a diverse category produced for a range of technical applications, and are generally sold based on the performance characteristics achieved rather than price per unit weight. Types include:
• inks, paints and other coatings;
• performance-enhancing additives;
• photographic chemicals;
• soap, detergents, toiletries and perfumes;
• explosives;
• glues; and
• essential oils.
High purity chemicals
This category includes especially pure, high quality chemicals with low or undetectable levels of contaminants. Examples include specialist solvent and aqueous formulations for microelectronics. High purity chemicals are produced in batches and typically membrane technology is employed both at the high purity processing site and also to filter out impurities at the end-user site prior to use. These chemicals are compositionally less complex than agrichemicals or specialist chemicals but they are included in this summary because they must be significantly more pure from the perspective of dissolved and particulate contaminants.
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