The AVN Blog

A client had discovered a novel carbonylation catalyst and had carried out batch reactions on a small laboratory scale. However, important questions remained regarding the potential for operating as a continuous process, such as catalyst life and the ability to separate products from the reaction mixture. AVN designed and constructed… Read More

A client developed a proprietary fermentation process to produce succinic acid using raw materials from agriculture and forestry. AVN was able to provide chemical process and engineering expertise that led to the development of a novel isolation and purification process involving reactive distillation and crystallization. The novel process was demonstrated… Read More

A company wanted to scale up the production of a product with antimicrobial properties being made at small lab scale. AVN studied the chemistry of the route being used and developed an alternative route that was less hazardous and more amenable to scale-up. It also opened the possibility of producing… Read More

AVN Corp.’s distillation experts, Glenn Graham and Raymond Rooks authored an article on innovations in pilot-plant distillation process in the February 2024 issue of Chemical Engineering magazine. Graham is a corporate fellow and Rooks is a principal engineer. Small-scale distillation processes have specific concerns that are different than commercial-scale innovation. In this… Read More

A customer was interested in converting a polymer into a functionalized derivative that required a reaction at elevated temperature and pressure. AVN developed a reaction plan and carried out the process to prepare multiple samples for analysis and other testing. A GPC method was implemented to determine the extent of… Read More