The consequences of fugitive exothermic chemical reactions can be devastating. The runaway reactions at Bhopal and Seveso serve to highlight the lasting impression of such events and the indelible stain on the reputation of the operating companies involved. When working with any manufacturing process it is always necessary to identify the hazards associated with its operation.
When working with any manufacturing process, it is always necessary to identify the hazards associated with its operation. Understanding chemical reactions and material reactivity is a critical element of safe handling due to the abundance of exothermic chemical processes in manufacturing processes. These reactions are often inherent in the transformation we undertake (e.g. conversion of styrene to polystyrene) - in other cases these may be undesirable reactions that are not part of our processing scheme (e.g. exposure to contamination or decomposition of a material due to extreme temperature).
Identifying, evaluating, and characterizing both intended and, more importantly, unwanted exothermic reactions are critical to ensuring the safe growth and operation of a chemical process. This often involves the use of a strategy to assess reaction hazards and thermally unstable substances according to most predictable plant conditions. With our preventive methodology, we help you run chemical processes with greater safety and quality.
EUROLAB's Chemical Reaction Hazard Testing advantages
When handling exothermic chemical reactions, including thermally unstable substances and mixtures, care should be taken that the danger is due to pressure build-up. Pressure can be produced in a closed container (or poorly ventilated container) from:
Starting with a technical review, our chemical reaction hazard test stocks existing processes and improves new ones. Our specialized capabilities include scanning assessment, adiabatic Dewar calorimetry, reaction calorimetry using Mettler RC1, Accelerated Rate Calorimetry (ARC), Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), Aeration Sizing Package 2 (VSP2 ™) and Carius. tube with gas analysis.
Causes EUROLAB?
We offer expert expertise, experience and state-of-the-art laboratory facilities to make reactive chemical tests valuable.
We specialize in process safety and conduct laboratory reaction studies, factorial experiment designs and tests under reflux and high pressure.
We are committed to protecting human life, society and the company, and we use this focus to evaluate the impact of process changes on safety and the environment. We adapt the solutions to your needs and provide practical and economical suggestions to improve your processes.
These pressure build-up modes may result from the desired reaction, an important side reaction, or a secondary decomposition reaction. Determining how pressure generation occurs is critical to ensuring safety.
Scan Assessment
The CHETAH program (ASTM program for Chemical Thermodynamics and Energy Release Assessment) is a unique tool for predicting both thermochemical properties and some “reactive chemical hazards” associated with a pure chemical, chemical mixture or chemical reaction. CHETAH is useful for classifying materials for violent decomposition capabilities, estimating reaction or combustion temperatures, and predicting lower flammability limits.
Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC)
DSC is a method for thermal analysis (micro-thermal analysis) using small samples of a few milligrams. Since DSC operates on a micro scale using only a few milligrams of substance, it is possible to investigate highly exothermic processes under extreme conditions without any risk. The relatively small sample quantities used in the DSC provide sufficient temperature uniformity within the sample so that even high heat outputs can be measured quantitatively. Additionally, the duration of an experiment in scan mode is only a few hours, making the DSC technique a very fast and powerful method for scanning purposes.
Final Gas Analysis Carius Tube
The Carius tube is a scanning tool for thermal stability scanning to search for exothermic activity and gas production. Carius tube screening tests can detect exothermic activity such as initial temperatures, determine pressure effects such as the initiation of permanent gas production, and consequently discriminate the amount of gas produced during the test. The residual gases produced can be analyzed by various analytical techniques such as GC-MS and GC-FID.
Acceleration Speed Calorimeter (ARC)
ARC is an automated laboratory device that helps to experimentally determine the time, temperature and pressure relationships of any exothermic reaction in a limited adiabatic environment. The data generated by ARC can be applied to the assessment of the thermal and pressure hazard potential of reactive chemicals and can be used to identify plant protection measures, including emergency evacuation system designs using DIERS technology.
Reaction Calorimetry (Mettler RC1)
The Mettler RC1 reaction calorimeter is a computer-controlled laboratory reactor that balances heat and mass flows. It is an excellent tool to study the thermal properties of desired reactions and to ensure safe process performance. RC1 data provides information such as reaction energy, specific heat, adiabatic temperature increases and heat transfer coefficients. RC1 can be used for process improvement and optimization by studying the behavior of chemical processes regarding varying process parameters such as temperature, dosing, mixing, concentration and catalyst.
Adiabatic Pressure Dewar Calorimeter
This instrument enables plant-scale runaway reactions to be simulated directly in the laboratory. In addition, the Dewar calorimeter provides direct simulation of reactors up to 25 m3, provides highly accurate test data and accurate representation of multi-phase reaction mixes, can run batch, semi-batch or gas batch, and is a highly economical solution to combine process safety and development studies. Data from a Dewar experiment can be used to identify plant protection measures, including emergency evacuation system designs using DIERS technology.
Vent Sizing Package 2 (VSP2 ™)
The Ventilation Sizing Package was first developed during the DIERS project in the mid-1980s to collect data for ventilation sizing calculations on fugitive exothermic reactions and decomposition; it was later commercialized as VSP2 ™. Unlike Adiabatic Dewar and ARC systems, which use thicker wall test cells to withstand high pressures, the 120 cm3 VSP2 ™ test cells are thin-walled with a lower phi factor. This unit is one of the best known adiabatic calorimeters in the world and is particularly popular in the USA for the study of runaway reactions.
EUROLAB, with its highly expert team and internationally accredited laboratories, Chemical Reaction Hazard Test It performs all test, analysis, measurement, evaluation and report generation services completely and reliably.
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