Promethean Particles of Nottingham, the specialist developer of nanomaterials, has been awarded an Institute of Physics Business Innovation Award for solving a key fluid mechanics problem enabling the use of supercritical fluids for the large-scale production of nanoparticles.

The breakthrough supported the development of a unique manufacturing process that enhances the scalability, safety and sustainability of nanomaterials, whilst reducing costs and waste along supply chains.

“We are absolutely delightedThe innovation arose from research which began almost 20 years ago with a collaboration between chemical engineers and chemists at the University of Nottingham. The research focused on the development and scale up of continuous hydrothermal synthesis (CHS) as a route to manufacturing ,” says technical director Ed Lester.

“We have overcome a key challenge relating to fluid mechanics that allows continuous hydrothermal synthesis to become a viable process and one that is now a true alternative to other production methods. We are able to make some the world’s most sophisticated nanomaterials one hundred times cheaper than competitors using a sustainable platform technology.”

CHS combines an aqueous metal salt solution with a superheated water stream to create nanoparticles suitable for a wide range of applications. For years, the development of the process was hindered by problems with blockages forming within the system. These blockages can be highly dangerous and are caused by mixing two fluids with completely different physical properties.

To overcome the problem, academics at Nottingham pioneered the use of pseudo-fluid modelling to understand the nature of the mixing inside the reactor. It was a radical move as it used dyed sugar water and methanol inside Perspex reactors to understand the issues inside a high pressure high temperature steel reactor.

Some academics and industrialists doubted that this could solve the problem, but it was indeed able to explain the fundamental issues around fluid partitioning, roping and back mixing and allowed the optimal design to be tested before building a real system.

Promethean Particles then worked with the university to scale the process to a 1000 ton per year plant in Nottingham. Promethean now use this plant to manufacture nanomaterials in a cleaner, safer, sustainable and more cost-effective way.