Strata Design & Build Services

Strata works closely with clients to take their concepts through design and analysis to the finished article. Some examples are highlighted here.

The Spinning Disc Reactor

In a typical spinning disc reactor, liquid is fed to the centre of a horizontal rotating disc. As the liquid moves toward the edge, intense interfering waves are formed under the influence of the centrifugal force. These interference waves generate extremely high heat and mass transfer rates and intense local mixing.
Some of the features of Spinning Disc Reactors include:

  • High heat and mass transfer rates
  • Plug flow
  • Intense mixing
  • Short residence time
  • Low fouling

The QUILL consortium (Queen's University, Belfast) wanted to move beyond the typical SDR and design a novel vertically oriented SDR that would allow them to examine mass transfer effects on the entrained liquid film using Raman spectroscopy.
From the initial enquiry:

“The idea behind the project is to use in-line Raman monitoring via the laser to determine interfacial concentrations of reacting species during oxidation and hydrogenation reactions. The interface is an ionic liquids phase held between the reactant gas and the catalyst which is supported on a rotating disc.”


Further refinement of the initial idea and the intended experimental procedure resulted in a tightly specified item.
Strata proceeded with the detailed design phase and 3D modelling of the item allowed QUILL to be kept up to date with the design and able to see in advance what the finished item was going to look like.

The Spinning Disc Reactor was assembled and delivered to the QUILL research laboratories.





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The Synthomer PVC Rig

Strata was commissioned by Synthomer to build a PolyVinyl Chloride (PVC) reactor rig. Among the many technical specifications, the rig needed to seamlessly incorporate the use of the two main types of commerical PVC reactor: short-squat reactors used in Western Europe and tall-thin reactors used in East Asia.
The pilot plant mimics the conditions found in a full-scale commercial reactor, and can be tuned to match the technology of any PVC producer worldwide.


3-D modelling was used extensively in the development of the reactors and other key components to ensure that client requirements were met.
The reactors are designed for pressure containment up to 18 barG and a maximum operating temperature of 80 °C.





The pilot plant has a dedicated PC-based automation and control system, interfaced with VOC detection for added safety. Strata also developed the user-friendly, dedicated software that enables sophisticated process trending, data recording, alarm recognition, and parameter monitoring to be carried out.

Dr Peter Shaw, Synthomer Technical Manager:

“It's been a very good project, delivered in cost and on time.
Strata is technically excellent and brought skills that we don't have internally. We certainly learned from each other as the project developed, but Strata was the only company that could offer the appropriate fast track design, project management, and construction.”
Processing Talk

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Strata aims to develop a working relationship with its clients, whether that means helping design a solution or providing turn-key systems to meet deadlines. Contact us to discuss your resource or time constraints.