Simple Monitoring of Fine Chemical Runaway Reactions in Multipurpose Plants: Nitration of 2,4-Dichloro Benzotrifluoride

Abstract

In the fine chemical industry new production processes are often implemented in multipurpose existing plants with minimum adaptation investments. When the new process involves a potential runaway reaction, a full thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of the system should be performed to evaluate whether the reaction can be safely scaled-up in the selected plant. However, a detailed kinetic characterization is often unsuited because of the huge development rate of new products. In this work a potential runaway reaction of the agrochemical industry, that is, the nitration of 2,4-dichloro benzotrifluoride through mixed acids, is investigated with the aim of implementing it with a minimum experimental effort in an existing plant already dedicated to a similar reaction, that is, the nitration of 4-chloro benzotrifluoride. It has been shown that, even performing very similar reactions, the Ψ number criterion cannot be implemented in a univocal way to monitor the multipurpose SBR operation. Such a goal can instead be reached through the general procedure based on the Ψ, X and MTSRad set of process indicators, which was previously applied to the monitoring of polymerization processes.

Thermal Risk Assessment of the Complex Nitration Process through Safety Operating Space Analysis and Optimization

“…Wang investigated 854 chemical accidents with casualties in China from 2015 to 2019 and found that the nitration accidents caused the most casualties due to the explosion and fire within the hazardous reaction processes. Researchers have undertaken extensive efforts to ensure the safety of nitration production. − …”