ce 400 / ce 500
TRANSCRIPT
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Process Safety Management
Lecture 12 Chemical Reactivity
Instructor: David Courtemanche
CE 400 / CE 500
All material in this lecture is the property of David Courtemanche
unless otherwise referenced
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Chemical Reactivity
โข Chemical reactions that are unintended or otherwise uncontrolled can
lead to serious consequences
โข Two main routes:
โข Exothermic reactions lead to large energy release generating
rapid pressure build and possibility of explosion
โข Generation and release of unintended toxic or flammable
materials
โข From 1980 to 2001 there were 167 incidents related to chemical
reactivity leading to 108 fatalities according to the Chemical Safety
Board (CSB) in their 2002 report
Chemical Reactivity
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Chemical Reactivity Hazards
โข Chemical Reaction Categories
โข Self Reacting Chemicals
โข Decomposition
โข Polymerization
โข Chemical Interactions
โข Between different chemicals
โข Chemical Reaction Scenarios
โข Intended and Controlled Reactions
โข Products!
โข Intended but Uncontrolled Reactions
โข Process upsets lead to normal reactions proceeding at undesirable rates
โข Unintended Reactions
โข Process upsets or operating errors lead to unintended reactions occurring
Chemical Reactivity
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Runaway Reaction
โข Exothermic reaction leads to temperature increase
โข Increased temperature leads to reaction rate increase
โข Increased reaction rate leads to increased exotherm and therefore
increase in rate of temperature increase
โข Cooling system cannot overcome this spiraling effect
โข Rapid temperature increase leads to rapid pressure increase
โข Vessels fail leading to loss of containment
โข Release of flammable or toxic material
Chemical Reactivity
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Awareness and Identification
โข I think itโs a bit simpler than thisโฆ
โข Do you handle chemicals that can react?
โข Either by themselves or with other chemicals
โข Do not limit yourself to combinations of chemicals
you intend to introduce to one another, consider
ALL combinations of the chemicals that you have
โข Do not limit yourself to the intended process
conditions
โข Also think about:
โข Would they release heat when they react?
โข Are any of the chemicals (including the products of
ALL reactions identified) hazardous?
Chemical Reactivity
From Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, 4/e by Daniel A. Crowl and Joseph F. Louvar (9780135726792) Copyright ยฉ 2019 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Screening flowchart for reactive chemical hazards. An answer of โyesโ at any decision point moves more toward reactive chemistry. (Source: R. W. Johnson, S. W. Rudy,
and S. D. Unwin. Essential Practices for Managing Chemical Reactivity Hazards (New York, NY: AICHE Center for Chemical Process Safety, 2003).)
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Identifying Reactions
โข First and foremost I recommend working with chemists who are knowledgeable in the classes
of chemicals that you are handling
โข Consulting the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for each chemical will also alert you reactive
hazards
โข Some examples:
โข Spontaneously Combustible
โข Reacts with oxygen without needing an ignition source
โข Peroxide forming
โข Reacts with oxygen to form peroxides, also look for peroxides themselves
โข Peroxides are unstable and generate free radicals
โข Water reactive
โข Oxidizers โ yields oxygen or other gas that readily promotes combustion
โข Self Reactive โ substances that react on their own, not needing another chemical to
interact with
Chemical Reactivity
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Identifying Reactions
โข Examining the chemical structure of
the molecules can give insight
โข If you see groups as shown in Table
8.3 the chemicals are prone to
reactions
โข Also look for vinyl groups (double
bonded carbon) as they are likely to
be polymerizable
Chemical Reactivity
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Chemical Interaction Matrix
โข Documents binary interactions of a group of chemicalsโข Extremely useful when evaluating consequences of process upsets in a Process Hazards Analysis
โข Document individual chemical hazards elsewhere
โข If there are any reactions requiring mixture of more than two chemicals they can be added as
footnotes
1 No reaction
2 Exothermic Reaction, may generate heat and/or cause pressurization
3 Combination liberates toxic gaseous products
4 Generation of corrosive liquid
Chemical Reactivity
Chemical A Chemical B Chemical C Chemical D
Chemical A - - - -
Chemical B 1 - - -
Chemical C 2 3 - -
Chemical D 1 3 2, 4 -
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Example of Chemical Interaction Hazard of Unintended Mixing
โข https://www.csb.gov/videos/mixed-connection-toxic-result/
Chemical Reactivity
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Characterization of Reactive Chemical Hazards
โข At what temperature does significant reaction rate begin to occur?
โข What is maximum rate of temperature increase?
โข Important information for the design of process cooling system
โข What is maximum rate of pressure increase?
โข Is this due to increased vapor pressure of the liquid or
generation of gaseous products
โข Do other reactions kick in as temperature increases?
โข Do we reach unexpected temperatures that now start off new
reactions?
Chemical Reactivity
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Calorimetry
โข Allows safe determination of reaction rates / heat generation rates /
pressure build using small quantities in the lab
โข Two modes of operation
โข Thermal Scan Mode
โข Heats sample at a constant temperature increase rate
โข Continues until calorimeter detects heat generation from reaction
โข Detects that it requires less heat input from calorimeter to maintain
constant rate of temperature increase
โข Heat-Wait-Search Mode
โข Heats sample to a fixed temperature and then waits to see if self-
heating from reaction occurs
Chemical Reactivity
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Chemical Reactivity
From Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, 4/e by Daniel A. Crowl and Joseph F. Louvar (9780135726792) Copyright ยฉ 2019 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
Vent Sizing Package (VSP2) showing the control system to equalize the pressure between the sample cell and the containment vessel.
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Example of Calorimetry Data
Chemical Reactivity
From Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, 4/e by Daniel A. Crowl and Joseph F. Louvar (9780135726792) Copyright ยฉ 2019 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
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Some Applications of Calorimeter Data
โข Heat Exchanger Duty required for cooling reactor
โข Maximum concentrations of reactants allowed to avoid overpressure in
reactor
โข Reactor vessel size and required pressure rating
โข Relief System sizing
โข Reactor temperature control design
Chemical Reactivity
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Scale Up Issues
โข One must be aware that cooling capacity does not scale directly
โข Heat generation scales as volume whereas cooling capacity scales as
surface area
โข Cylindrical tank with ๐ฟ
๐= ๐
โข Volume: ๐ = ๐๐2๐ฟ = ๐๐3๐
โข Surface Area: ๐๐ด = ๐๐2 + 2๐๐๐ฟ = ๐๐2 + 2๐๐2๐
โข Surface to Volume: ๐๐ก๐ =๐๐2+2๐๐2๐
๐๐3๐=
1+2๐
๐๐
Chemical Reactivity
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Scale Up Issues
โข Assume that ๐ณ
๐= ๐ is to be held constant
โข Increasing the volume from ๐ฝ๐ to ๐ฝ
โข๐ฝ
๐ฝ๐= ๐ =
๐ ๐๐๐
๐ ๐๐๐๐=
๐๐
๐๐๐
โข๐๐
๐= ๐โ เต๐ ๐
โข The relative surface to volume ratios of the production equipment to
the lab apparatus is
๐บ๐๐ฝ
๐บ๐๐ฝ๐=
๐ + ๐๐๐๐
๐+ ๐๐๐๐๐
=๐๐๐= ๐โ เต๐ ๐
Chemical Reactivity
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L
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Scale Up Issues
โข The relative surface to volume ratios of the production equipment to
the lab apparatus is
๐บ๐๐ฝ
๐บ๐๐ฝ๐=
๐+ ๐๐๐๐
๐+ ๐๐๐๐๐
=๐๐๐= ๐โ เต๐ ๐
โข If you increase the volume by a factor or 10 (๐ฝ
๐ฝ๐= ๐ = ๐๐ ), the surface
to volume ratio scales by a factor of 10โ ฮค1 3 = 0.46
โข The ability to remove heat relative to heat generation is only 46% that
of the test apparatus
โข What seemed safe in the lab can be disastrous in the production unit
Chemical Reactivity
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Controlling Reactive Hazards โ Inherently Safer
โข Use less hazardous chemicals
โข Use reaction pathway (steps or process conditions) that are less
energetic
โข Use smaller inventories of reactive chemicals in process and in storage
โข Use lower concentrations or add inert solvent to temper reaction
โข Control stoichiometry or charge of reactor so that runaway reaction
does not lead to a pressure that exceeds vessel rating
Chemical Reactivity
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Controlling Reactive Hazards โ Passive Methods
โข Ensure that incompatible materials are always separated
โข Provide adequate separation distances between storage vessels,
reactors, and other process equipment using reactive chemicals
โข Provide passive engineering controls to control reactive chemical spills
โข Dikes
โข Berms
โข Passive Fire Protection
โข Insulation of equipment containing reactive chemicals
โข Thermal coating of mechanical supports
โข Locate plant with adequate separation from local community
Chemical Reactivity
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Controlling Reactive Hazards โActive Methods
โข Identify reactive chemical hazards and obtain experimental calorimetric data
โข Provide properly designed control systems to control reactions in process
โข Use quench, stop, or dump systems to quickly stop out-of-control reactions
โข The chemicals involved in these systems can present their own hazards
โข Provide reliable mixing systems with mixing problem detection
โข Relief systems designed to prevent over-pressurization due to reactive
chemistry
โข Provide inhibitor and ensure proper levels to self-reactive materials
โข Provide adequate cooling systems and method to detect proper function
Chemical Reactivity
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Controlling Reactive Hazards - Procedural
โข Review and document chemical reactivity risks
โข Communicate and train all personnel on chemical reactivity hazards
โข Implement Management of Change procedures to ensure operations
do not evolve in an unsafe manner
โข Investigate all chemical reactivity incidents
โข Provide Quality Control procedures to ensure that all reactive
chemicals received are correct chemicals at correct concentrations
and without hazardous impurities
Chemical Reactivity