Reaktorstabilität und sichere Reaktionsführung

Abstract

Reactor stability and safe reaction engineering. Stable operating behaviour of chemical reactors and stability in the sense of stability theory of chemical processes are by no means synonymous concepts. Thus, appropriate control can permit reliable operation at a unstable operating point, while even global stability will not necessarily rule out a runaway reaction. The latter is the case when strongly exothermal reactions are characterized by a pronounced parametric sensitivity. In order to delineate the concepts, „stability”︁ and „parametric sensitivity”︁ are explained first for stirred tank and tubular reactors with strongly exothermal reaction. Both the conventional view of reaction engineering and the theory of heat explosion commonly used in reaction engineering are considered in detail. Practical problems of safe reaction engineering are subsequently discussed for the control of batch reactors, the control of semibatch reactors, and the behaviour of bundled‐tube reactors.

Runaway Potential and Pressure Rise in the Polymerization of Styrene-Butadiene

“…(Barkelew, 1959;Eigenberger and Schuler, 1986). Our method does not invalidate Barkelew's criterion, since the differences in the critical values of the parameter UAIM, are not large.…”

“…Although S does not meet the criterion of Eq. (14), it is not much larger than unity (Barkelew, 1959;Eigenberger and Schuler, 1986). Thus, it can be anticipated that the reactor will not be parametrically sensitive.…”

Development of a Structured Reactor System for CO2 Methanation under Dynamic Operating Conditions

“…Consequently, it is a highly interesting goal to develop chemical conversion processes that ensure efficient, selective, and stable operation even under strongly fluctuating conditions. This is possible if problematic temperature hotspots or product compositions, which can compromise a safe and stable plant operation and harm product quality, can be safely avoided despite the unsteady process conditions. In this study, we introduce a reaction system that fulfills this requirement based on a structured Ru‐catalyst.…”

Safe operation of stirred‐tank semibatch reactors subject to risk of thermal hazard

“…Some authors 10,13 used the plane of parameter N vs. S to define the runaway to the nonrunaway semiplanes, where N is the cooling capacity of the reactor and S is the reaction sensitivity. [14][15][16] (See definitions under Theory below.) This type of safety maps is useful for assessing safety as shown by Velo et al 4 in batch cases.…”