Laboratory & Research Equipment
Lab & process instruments for chemistry research
Through contact with research companies and laboratory equipment suppliers in the Cambridge area, we have designed customised unique equipment as well as designs for mass production. Our designs are characterised by their innovative features, ease of use and robustness in harsh environments. Below is some of our portfolio of designs.
Instruments for flow and batch chemistry — multi-position photoreactors, continuous photochemistry systems, high-pressure reagent pumps, reactor heaters, and inline UV/VIS analysis, built for reproducible scale-up.
Precision Immersion Thermostat
An immersion heater/chiller for water or oil baths that provides high temperature accuracy, uniform heat distribution, and programmable temperature profiles.
The control algorithm quickly learns the thermal load, external losses or gains, and the thermal capacity, quantity and type of liquid being controlled — water or mineral oil — to tune the control loop. This lets the temperature profile follow accurate ramps and dwells with no delay or overshoot.
The heater can be commanded remotely, monitored using easy to use software, and programmed to perform complex temperature profiles, either using software or the LCD display. Programs can contain up to 20 steps, each of which can be temperature ramps, holds, conditional waits to reach temperature or receive external signals, and iterating loops. Relay outputs can be used to signal progress to other equipment.
Flow Chemistry Modules and Software
We designed a modular series of flow-chemistry products orchestrated by our software.
Our modules comprise high-pressure (HPLC) pumps, chemically-resistant valves, pressure sensors, coil and column reactors, photoreactors, heated coil reactors, in-flow UV/Visible fibre-optic spectrometers, and liquid handlers, and we can integrate common industry components such as mass-flow controllers, chillers and heaters.
Our software can sequence long flow-chemistry reaction programmes to automatically explore the effects of stoichiometry, pressure, temperature, reaction time and light exposure, with no operator intervention. Precise valve sequencing and in-line spectroscopy ensure the absolute minimum of expensive reagents is used to reach a steady-state output, and liquid handlers allow representative samples of the output product to be saved.
Heated Coil Reactor
A programmable heated reactor module that operates from ambient to 300 °C. Capable of high temperatures and pressures and easy to control manually or from various software platforms, it comes in several materials to be robust to any chemicals.
The advantage of a coil reactor is the long reaction time achievable in flow chemistry, combined with compactness. The unique mechanical and thermal design means the coil is heated completely uniformly by an adjustable mandrel, giving equal temperature throughout the reaction time. It can be combined with a photoreactor to provide both heat and light exposure to the process.
Photochemistry Reactors
We design a series of photoreactors for flow chemistry. A photoreactor is a coil reactor on a heated or cooled mandrel, surrounded by a high-power cylindrical light source. Our light sources are available in single or multiple (fixed or switchable) wavelength versions and can be customised for your reaction.
Providing up to 180 W of light from 365 to 525 nm with software-selectable, remotely-controlled power and wavelength, the system can optimise reactions automatically, with uniform lighting along the length of the reactor.
Light output is precisely monitored by feedback, and operator hazard is minimised by mechanical interlocks, software self-checks of internal relay functions, multiple temperature monitoring, detection of LED open- and short-circuit, and monitoring of the optional liquid or gas cooling system.
Fibre Optic Spectrometer
A fibre-optic-coupled UV/Visible instrument with a 2048-pixel CCD and throughput of 100 frames per second.
It has innovative features such as individual pixel gain control and comes with accessories to collect data from fluid flows, pipettes and inside reactors. The fibre-optic input lets the spectrometer monitor multiple points in a flow-chemistry system while staying in a safe location.
The capability of this instrument has allowed us to complete some challenging test equipment projects, for example Industrial Test and Control Systems → Dye Sublimation Ribbon Testing
Core Capabilities
Through contact with research companies and laboratory equipment suppliers in the Cambridge area, we have designed customised unique equipment as well as designs for mass production. Our designs are characterised by their innovative features, ease of use and robustness in harsh environments. Below is some of our portfolio of designs.
- Parallel batch photoreactors. — Our batch photoreactor runs 12 temperature-controlled, septum-sealed positions for rapid reaction optimisation and catalyst screening.
- Continuous photochemistry. — Our continuous-flow photoreactor turns a coil reactor into a high-power continuous photoflow platform.
- High-pressure reagent delivery. — Our dual-channel flow-chemistry pump provides high-pressure reagent delivery with integrated back-pressure regulation.
- Elevated-temperature flow heating. — Our heated coil reactor heats coil reactors from ambient to 260 °C (300 °C configuration available) for continuous flow chemistry.
- Inline UV/VIS analytics. — A fibre-coupled spectrometer monitors reactions in real time across flow and batch workflows.
- 12 — Parallel reactor positions
- 260 °C — Standard flow-heating range
How it works
Application & method definition
We start from the chemistry: whether the work is batch or continuous flow, and what temperature, throughput and control it demands — shaping instruments around real method needs rather than a generic chassis.
Instrument build
We build the hardware to match: a multi-position batch photoreactor for parallel screening, a dual-channel high-pressure reagent pump, and a heated coil reactor for elevated-temperature flow reactions.
Reproducibility & scale translation
We engineer for repeatable results and clean scale-up — temperature-controlled platforms plus inline UV/VIS monitoring via our Spectrometer — so optimisation on the bench translates reliably to larger runs.