HEL is well into the UK conference season now...

So far we have been to the Continuous Flow Technology in Industry conference where one of our staff members, Andrew Coleman,  gave a formal presentation on  our FlowCAT technology.  This generated a lot of interest as it was the only solution presented capable of scaling up liquid / gas reactions especially in trickle-bed mode but not limited to this. The versatility of FlowCAT is another major attraction,  being useful for not only hydrogenations but also for example carbonylations and oxidations under flow, as well as liquid-liquid reactions and slower chemistries that require long lengths of tubing.  The conference showed a real maturing of the flow chemistry sector with some of the more fantastical ideas that initially appeared with the technology such as numbering up being widely rejected.  There was a lot of interesting work presented at the conference and these presentations can be downloaded from the RSC website http://www.rscspecialitychemicals.org.uk/previous-conferences/continuous-flow-technology-in-industry/ . We would also like to thank the organisers Ruth and Bruce for making it such an excellent and well run conference.

Last week we attended the SCI Synthesis with Cheaper Metals conference.  This was a really good time where we caught up with a lot of customers and the chemistry presented in the lectures was truly brilliant.

Next week is a busy one with first of all “Advances in Synthesis and Medicinal Chemistry” in Welwyn where we will be showing a range of synthesis equipment closely followed by a quick drive North to “Batteries & Fuel Cells Seminar” in Stoke where we will presenting our solutions for battery calorimetry.

Please view www.helgroup.com/events for further information on where we will be exhibiting in the future. Also, we are now on Pinterest! Please follow us at : http://pinterest.com/helgroup/

HEL participates in the EV Battery Forum in Barcelona

“HEL participated in the EV Battery Forum in Barcelona this month – in the grand surroundings of the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I.

We were the only exhibitor of battery testing equipment – in our case Battery Testing Calorimeter (BTC) information, which includes thermal runaway testing adiabatically (ARC-testing) and an isothermal calorimeter that provides thermal management data. The conference presentations were concerned with all factors affecting EV adoption: infrastructure issues like charger availability, battery lifetime and of course…battery safety. After discussions with the delegates over the 2 days of the conference it became apparent that the thorough testing of batteries under all conditions was universally seen as essential, yet the majority of organizations – even large ones – lacked the equipment to do this effectively. There is at the moment a lack of awareness that HEL’s adiabatic (ARC) and isothermal (thermal management) data is even available and how it could help design Battery Management Systems. Several presentations highlighted the future requirement for ever larger batteries that can be charged in ever shorter times suggesting that the need for this testing will only grow. HEL’s growing range of test capability, which now also includes automated nail penetration as well as several other “abuse” tests will be well placed to supply this vital equipment as the industry develops.''



For further information on our adiabatic calorimeter, please click here and for information on our isothermal BTC, please click here

HEL exhibits at the FlowHET Conference in Florida

Picture of our stand at the conference

HEL recently exhibited at the FlowHET Conference in Florida for the first time. This is a wide ranging conference with homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis presentations with applications that included hydrogenations in the pharmaceutical industry and a well as petrochemical and refining process.

The continuous flow reactor platform, the FlowCAT received a great deal of interest and was seen as a valuable tool in continuing the development of flow chemistry. The conference also underlined the fact that the trend towards flow chemistry shows no signs of slowing. The FlowCAT was acknowledged as being an extremely flexible and easy to use solution compared to it’s competitors for the optimization of many high pressure reactions. It has a very small footprint and has the compactness and ease-of-use normally associated with analytical devices which appeals enormously to bench chemists and chemical engineers alike. Data has been shown to scale very easily and reliably due to the care in design and attention to detail. This supplements HEL’s more traditional catalysis platforms such as HP Chemscan, CAT blocks and the high pressure automate and polyblock systems.

For further information on our flow chemistry reactor, FlowCAT, please click here

HEL attends the NC3 exhibition in Netherlands

At the recent Netherlands Catalysis and Chemistry Conference in Holland on 5th of March, HEL showcased their systems for Hydrogenation and Catalysis. The continuous flow reactor platform, the FlowCAT received a great deal of interest and was seen as a valuable tool in continuing the development of Flow chemistry processes. With several systems already installed the conference also underlined the fact that the trend towards flow chemistry shows no signs of slowing. The FlowCAT was universally acknowledged as being an extremely flexible and easy to use solution for the optimisation of many high pressure reactions.

HEL also exhibited the High Pressure ChemSCAN which is already established as the market leader for heterogenous and homogenous catalytic screening and rapid development of high pressure reactions. Scientists interested in a complete, dedicated system were enthusiastic about the range of experiments that could be performed using this technology. With large temperature, pressure and volume ranges and unsurpassed mixing capability the High Pressure Chemscan offers a powerful and versatile development tool.

To round off, HEL also showed some very simple high pressure screening tools. The CAT units received a great deal of interest from smaller laboratories and academic attendees. This low cost, simple to use high pressure reaction screening autoclave is widely used in many laboratories.

HEL’s participation in the Advanced Automative Battery conference in Orlando

HEL participated for the first time in the AABC Conference in Florida, both having an exhibition booth and making a technical presentation by HEL's managing director Dr Jasbir singh.

Click here to view video.

The technical program for the conference is highly scientific in nature both strong commercial presence but also many academics in attendance. HEL's presentation that was delivered looked into the complementary role of adiabatic ("ARC-Type") calorimetery for battery thermal runaway testing and isothermal (controlled) measurement of heat release to provide the thermal management duty specification. HEL's standard BTC is now an established benchmark for runaway thermal testing of EV and other high energy batteries with the ability to test large batteries and packs.

The isothermal BTC version, iso-BTC, is relatively new generated a lot of interest among attendees and people were generally convinced that this is an essential part of the safety should be supplied. Knowing how much heat is generated when discharging Li-ion batteries can be used to design cooling systems controlled from a BMS. HEL's approach this form of heat measurement has the attraction of being on-line and providing a unique into the workings of batteries which developers can make use of to improve battery design.

HEL’s range of Chemical Reactors and Thermal Hazard Testing capability

Enerrgy, batteries and safety, all relate to HEL's range of chemical reactors and thermal hazard testing capability, which at the moment are undergoing rapid development as governments and industry respond to global warming. A lot of research into bio-fuels, especially using non-food items as the source, involves high pressure chemistry and catalysis which fit perfectly with HEL’s flowCAT and HP Chemcan systems for performing hydrogenation, oxidation and carbonylation reactions (among others). HEL’s unique position arises from the ability to design compact, “analytical-looking” instruments even though complex high pressure and temperature operations are involved yet operability is rendered simple and fast.

The other side of the energy equation is to look ahead to renewable sources which will then require the use of batteries for storage and transportation applications. Battery technology has a long way to go but even the current favourite which is based around Li-ion chemistry poses huge fire/explosion risks unless handled correctly. This leads to HEL’s position as the leading provider of the widest range of calorimetry tools to enable understanding of the chemistry (using typically SIMULAR reaction calorimeter), direct simulation of the thermal runaway risk (with “ARC” type adiabatic calorimeters such as the Battery Testing Calorimeter, BTC) and design of suitable thermal management systems to prevent battery explosive runaway (with the isothermal version of the BTC which directly provides the information for a BMS).

The last of these, iso-BTC, was launched only recently and has huge potentially for providing the heat load that battery thermal management systems must cope with, in order to prevent thermal runaway and explosion. The principle involved here is similar to that used by HEL for years in their reaction calorimeters and the challenge is to translate this to batteries and packs which can be cylindrical, pouch and prismatic in shape and widely different sizes.

A growing interest for HEL in the car battery market

The car battery market is definitely of growing interest that HEL group is continuing to tap into. Last year, from 8-9 December in Boston, HEL exhibited our Battery Testing Calorimeter for the first time at the ‘Battery Safety’ conference. This is one of the few conferences devoted to battery safety, especially thermal runaway potential and the role of adiabatic calorimeters such as our Battery Testing Calorimeter in helping to provide safety data. Our managing director, Dr Jasbir Singh, was one of the speakers at this two day conference and focused on the added value of videoing batteries undergoing thermal runaway, so that temperature information can be combined with photographic evidence, to learn about where and how batteries fail during thermal runaway. Our battery safety calorimeter generated a lot of interest.

Recently, in October 25-27, ‘The Battery Show’ conference was held in Detroit, US, is the heart of the US car industry. Exhibitors represented a wide range of products relating to the EV market, with safety being of minor interest. Although our Battery Testing Calorimeter (“ARC Type” system) was not taken to the exhibition, Dr Singh had taken some videos of batteries undergoing thermal runaways to the exhibition. He says about the videos that, ‘it is a rather unique capability; it generated a lot of interest’. From the exhibition, it was clear that the car battery market is seeing a lot of investment and the market is growing fast, as his conclusions were that ‘several car manufacturers are planning to include a budget for the BTC-ARC for their Thermal Safety Testing’.