Preventing Runaway Reactions Department Editor: Rebekkah Marshall Chemical Engineering®

**Manfenix** Vie Abr 15, 2011 1:06 pm

A process is considered to be thermally safe only if the reactions can easily be controlled, and if the raw material, the products, the intermediates and the reaction masses are thermally stable under the considered process conditions. Check into the process equipment, its design, its sequence of operation and the control strategies. In addition to the engineering aspects, get detailed information on thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the substances involved, such as the reaction rates or heat-release rates as a function of process conditions. Determine the physical and chemical properties, as well.
Understanding of thermal-hazard potential requires knowledge of various skills and disciplines(3). These include:

Operating mode: the mode of operation is an important factor. For instance, a batch reaction, where all the reactants are charged initially, is more difficult to control than a semi-batch operation in which one of the reactants is charged progressively as the reaction proceeds (for more, see Design Options).

Engineering: design and layout of the plant and equipment and its built-in controls impact the entire process. The capacity of the heating or cooling system is important in this context. Process engineering is used to understand the control of the chemical processes on a plant scale. It determines which equipment should be used and how the chemical processes should be performed. In addition, take into account technical failure of equipment, human errors (deviations from operating instructions), unclear operating instructions, interruption of energy supply, and external influences, such as frost or rain (for more, see Design Options).

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Preventing Runaway Reactions Department Editor: Rebekkah Marshall Chemical Engineering® 2q1avx10