Fundamental Study on Inhitibiting Exothermic Reactions Under Adverse Conditions

放热反应用于化学、石化和制药工业。 对这些反应的控制是重要的，因为失去控制可能导致热失控，这可能导致环境破坏，伤害，有时甚至死亡的事故。 处理失控反应的一种方法是抑制，即在失控的最初阶段向反应器或储存容器中注入少量抑制剂。本项目将重点研究在不利条件下的反应速率、温度和压力，如冷却损失、搅拌损失和不寻常的动力学。 这些研究将使用（1）一个新的模拟模型，具有三个混合区，以表征具有完全混合与不完全混合的失控反应，（2）计算流体动力学模型，以计算湍流和微观混合条件下搅拌的影响，以及（3）实验设计（DOE）方法，以有效地确定抑制失控的方法。 研究结果最终也将被用来强调未来的问题和限制，当反应更快和反应器更小。影响：该项目创造的知识最终可以改善化学工业的安全性能和形象。 此外，PI计划开发化学过程安全教育材料，用于本科化学工程课程，将安全相关问题引入课程的机制。

Exothermic reactions are used in the chemical, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Control of these reactions is important because the loss of control can lead to thermal runaways, which can cause accidents with environmental damage, injuries, and sometimes fatalities. A way for dealing with runaway reactions is inhibition which involves injecting small quantities of an inhibitor into a reactor or storage vessel at the earliest stage of a runaway.This project will focus on the study of reaction rates, temperatures, and pressures under adverse conditions, such as loss of cooling, loss of agitation, and unusual kinetics. The studies will use (1) a new simulation model with three mixing zones to characterize runaway reactions with perfect mixing versus imperfect mixing, (2) computational fluid dynamics models to copmater the effects of agitation under turbulent and micromixing conditions, and (3) design of experiment (DOE) methods to effectively identify methods to inhibit runaways. The results will ultimately also be used to highlight future problems and limitations when reactions are faster and reactors are smaller.Impact:Knowledge created by this project could ultimately improve the chemical industry's safety performance and image. In addition, the PIs plan to develop chemical process safety educational material for use in undergraduate chemical engineering courses, a mechanism for introducing safety related issues into the curriculum.