Flow Chemistry Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Reactor (CSTR, PFR, Microreactor), By Application (Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals) By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030

Report Overview

The global flow chemistry market was valued at USD 1.60 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2% over the forecast period. Increasing awareness surrounding sustainable development and the growing pharmaceutical and chemical industries are some of the key driving factors for industry growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an oil price collapse leading to a narrowing of feedstock cost advantage for chemical companies. This resulted in a decrease in the demand for reactors in the chemical industry, which generates a major part of the revenue for the industry. Moreover, these effects were felt by the petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries, thus negatively impacting the market growth.

The pandemic exposed the pharmaceutical supply chain in the U.S. leading to many companies setting up manufacturing facilities in the country. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advocating the use of flow chemistry for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) production. This is expected to boost the industry growth in the country.

The use of continuous flow methods in this technology for extraction, chromatography, and reactions with supercritical fluids provides several advantages over the batch process. Moreover, the use of green solvents such as methanol and acetone can be safely carried out in a flow reactor under high pressure and elevated temperatures.

Smaller equipment sizes, decreased waste, lower costs, and faster time to market for new medications are expected to fuel the growth. Increased investment in R&D by reactor manufacturers and end-users is projected to drive the market. Several benefits of flow chemical reactors over batch reactors are expected to augment the industry growth.

The market's competitive landscape is driven by technological innovation for the use of flow chemistry. Companies in the industry are extensively spending on R&D and creating products to optimize the manufacturing procedure and increase the yield to be synthesized. Global demand for fine chemicals and specialized chemicals has driven manufacturers to create partnerships with end-users, which is likely to promote growth.

Reactor Type Insights

CSTR led the market and accounted for over 37.2% share of the global revenue in 2022. Factors responsible for the segment growth are high adoption, simple construction, good temperature control, low cost, and adaptability to two-phase runs. Moreover, the increasing use of CSTR in water and wastewater applications is likely to boost industry growth.

Plug flow reactor, also known as tubular reactor, is one of the most commonly used reactors for gas phase reactions. The absence of moving parts, high conversion rate per reactor volume, simple mechanism, and low maintenance lead to a low overall cost of production from these reactors, which is likely to propel their demand.

Microreactor is estimated to expand at a lucrative CAGR of 17.7% from 2023 to 2030, in terms of revenue. The demand for microreactors in pharmaceutical and fine chemicals due to their low footprint, the requirement of less capital commitment, and safe processing of highly reactive and hazardous processes is expected to boost industry growth.

Microwave-assisted organic synthesis has witnessed significant focus over the past years on account of its fast reaction rate, low byproducts and high yield, high purity of the products, easy scale-up, and ease of use. Microwave-assisted continuous reactors have been utilized mainly for academia and laboratory applications due to size limitations.

Application Insights

The chemicals segment led the market and accounted for over 37.8% of the global revenue in 2022 on account of increased use of environmentally friendly technologies such as flow chemistry in order to reduce greenhouse emissions. Moreover, increase in demand for specialty chemicals from automotive industry is expected to positively impact the industry growth.

Numerous companies in the pharmaceutical industry have been trying to maintain a collaboration between the industry and academic sectors. Academia & research is likely to introduce new methodologies for manufacturing chemicals and APIs which is expected to augment the demand for reactors in this segment over the forecast period.

The pharmaceuticals application segment is expected to expand at a significant CAGR of 12.0% over the forecast period. Factors such as increasing demand for the optimization of drug development and demand to reduce the time taken for drug launch are expected to boost the demand for this equipment in pharmaceutical applications.

Other applications include fragrances, biofuels, and nanoparticle production. The use of continuous manufacturing in biofuels is slowly receiving preference as flow chemistry in the transesterification process can reduce time and cost, resulting in high production and profit and an increase in demand for flow chemistry.

Regional Insights

North America led the market and accounted for over 35.0% share of the global revenue in 2022. The increase in chemical and pharmaceutical production and a rise in investments in research and development in flow chemistry, especially in continuous processes, are some of the key factors fueling the industry growth in the region.

APAC region is estimated to expand at the highest CAGR of 12.4% over the forecast period. An increase in government expenditure on pharmaceutical production due to an increase in demand for generic drugs, coupled with the promising outlook for the chemical and petrochemical industries, is likely to augment industry growth in the region.

The pharmaceutical industry in Europe is focusing on medical R&D by maintaining, sustaining, and developing a robust regulatory and innovation-supportive incentives environment. Flow chemistry makes the production of drugs economic and easy, resulting in the increased adoption of this technology by various pharmaceutical manufacturers across Europe.

An increase in oil production and increasing investments in the pharmaceutical industry in Brazil are expected to positively impact this industry in the country. Increasing focus on the field of biotechnology and rising adoption of green production processes are also likely to augment the industry growth in the country.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The competitive environment in the industry is driven by the innovation in technology for the usage of flow chemistry. Companies operating in the market are investing heavily in R&D as well as developing instruments to optimize the production method and improve the yield of the product that is to be synthesized. The growing demand for fine chemicals and specialty chemicals across the globe has compelled manufacturers to form alliances with end users for the application of flow chemistry.

Regional expansion efforts are expected to play a crucial role as manufacturers in Europe and North America are considering Asia Pacific as a possible destination for the expansion of this technology. In May 2020, CEM acquired Intavis Bioanalytical Instruments Assets and assumed global sales, service, and support responsibility for the instrumentation line of the latter. Some prominent players in the flow chemistry market include:

• Am Technology

• CEM Corporation

• Milestone Srl

• Biotage AB

• Syrris Ltd.

• Vapourtec Ltd.

• ThalesNano Inc.

• Hel Group

• Uniqsis Ltd.

• Chemtrix BV

• Ehrfeld Mikrotechnik BTS

• Future Chemistry Holding BV

• Corning Incorporated

• Cambridge Reactor Design Ltd.

• PDC Machines Inc.

• Parr Instrument Company

Recent Developments

• In July 2023, H.E.L Group announced a collaboration with IIT Kanpur to leverage sustainable energy driven by the institute. The objective of this initiative was to create new testing labs for conducting research in new chemistry development, battery storage, and thermal characteristics study.

• In June 2023, ACI Sciences strengthened its strategic partnership with Vapourtec. With the help of this transaction, ACI Sciences planned to serve as the official distributor of Vapourtec in Southeast Asia. By deploying Vapourtec’s groundbreaking continuous flow chemistry systems, scientists can leverage the productivity and precision of experiments while reducing waste and minimizing costs.

• In June 2023, H.E.L Group expanded its BioXplorer product range with the launch of two new automated parallel bioreactors: BioXplorer 400XL and BioXplorer 400P. These bioreactors are idyllic for cell line/strain screening, small-scale process development, and various research, screening, and optimization investigations in bioprocessing and flow chemistry.

• In March 2023, Uniqsis unveiled the Solstice multi-position batch photoreactor, which can achieve up to 12 small-scale reactions parallelly. After determining the optimal conditions through parallel reactions, researchers can transition to a continuous flow reactor, such as the Borealis Flow photoreactor, to scale up the process and attain higher throughput.

• In March 2023, Corning Incorporated and NARD Institute, Ltd. announced the commencement of an Advanced-Flow reactor application-qualified lab in NARD’s facility in Japan.

• In September 2022, Uniqsis introduced the Cold Chip temperature control module, designed to be attached to a compatible recirculator. By delivering optimum temperature control for GSMs, the Cold Chip augments the flexibility and capabilities of flow chemistry systems, thereby enabling precise and controlled reactions for efficacious flow chemistry processes.

• In June 2021, Corning Incorporated announced the initiation of the Corning Advanced-Flow Technology Academy in China. The academy was purposed to fulfil the objective of delivering interactive and top-notch live training on the company’s platform of flow chemistry education.

Flow Chemistry Market Report Scope

Global Flow Chemistry Market Report Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis of the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2018 to 2030. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the flow chemistry market on the basis of application, reactor type, and region:

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

  • Pharmaceuticals

  • Chemicals

  • Academia & Research

  • Petrochemicals

  • Others

• Reactor Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

  • CSTR (Continuous stirred-tank reactor)

  • Plug Flow Reactor

  • Microreactor

  • Microwave Systems

  • Others

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2018 - 2030)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • Germany

    • UK

    • France

    • Russia

    • Italy

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

    • South Korea

    • Australia

  • Central & South America

    • Brazil

    • Argentina

  • Middle East & Africa

    • Saudi Arabia

    • UAE