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Novasep Synthesis sites: Leverkusen site

Leverkusen site

Hazardous Chemistry Expertise

The Dynamit Nobel site was founded in 1871 to make explosives for the Ruhr region’s large coal mining industry and was taken over by Alfred Nobel two years later. Today, Novasep in Leverkusen-Schlebusch is the market leader in hazardous chemistry. More than 130 years of experience in handling energetic materials and hazardous reactions enable the company to produce APIs and intermediates by shorter routes. These include azide, diborane, diazomethane and hydrazine chemistry.

Production Excellence

Explosive substances
Shock & friction sensitive chemicals
Self igniting gases and liquids
Thermally sensitive compounds
Very toxic materials
Highly energetic reactions

Safety skills

Ability to handle a broad range of sensitive chemicals
Specific installations & equipment to operate hazardous processes
Isolated production units, designed for hazardous chemistry
Extensive safety testing capability, especially for explosive and highly energetic chemicals and reactions

Hazardous Chemicals	- Shock, friction and thermally sensitive compounds - Self igniting gases / liquids - Instable and highly reactive chemicals - And of course very toxic - highly flammable strongly oxidizing and specific molecules, e.g. CS₂, Nitroalkanes

Hazardous Reactions	- Reactions with high energetic potential - Reactions with low gap to decomposition temperature - Reactions with highly dangerous intermediates - Very exothermic reactions

Research and Development

At Leverkusen, R&D, Production and Quality work as an integrated team. Members of the R&D group are closely involved during pilot and production stages, making sure that scale up and manufacturing run smoothly.

R&D is focused on:	- Process design and optimisation - Development of new technologies > new chemical reactions (e.g DAM, B₂H₆) > new technologies (e.g.µRT) - CIP / second generation processes - Chemical and process safety - Environment / Responsible Care

How do we proceed:	- Integrated R&D / production teamwork - Strong involvement of R&D in pilot and production

R&D Equipment:	- Laboratories / kilolab - Specific instrumentation (inline analytics for process development / kinetics / thermodynamics) - Process simulation

Site description

Overview

	Leverkusen
cGMP facilities Reactor volume	3 104m³
Nitrolgycerine / Formulation	production & 2 formulation lines
Non cGMP facilities Reactor volume	2 72 m³

Product volume: lab/kilolab/pilot plant up to several 100 mt scale
Specific equipment and installations (e.g. Ex T6 for CS₂ chemistry)
Exhaust gas devices for each production site
Waste water incineration on site

Equipment

Special chemistry Equipment:
- Multiple enamel and stainless steel reactors
- Volume from 50 l up to 15 000 l
- Temperature range from -80°C to 230°C
- Pressure range up to 10 bar
Plant and equipment designed for hazardous chemistry
Highly sophisticated safety control devices integrated in the production plant