Abstract

LOPEZ-ZAMORA, S. M; DOBROSZ-GOMEZ, I  and  GOMEZ-GARCIA, M. Á. Stability criteria and critical runway conditions of propylene glycol manufacture in a continuous stirred tank reactor. Ing. Investig. [online]. 2015, vol.35, n.2, pp.56-60. ISSN 0120-5609.  https://doi.org/10.15446/ing.investig.v35n2.46258.

The present paper presents the development of a new method for the analysis of the steady state and the safety operational conditions of the propylene oxide hydrolysis with excess of water in a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR). At first, for the industrial operational typical values, the generated and removed heat balances were examined. Next, the effect of coolant fluid temperature on the critical ignition and extinction temperatures (T_CI and T_CE, respectively) was analyzed. The influence of the heat exchange parameter (hS) on coolant and critical temperatures was also studied. Finally, the steady state operation areas were defined. The existence of multiple stable states was recognized when the heat exchange parameter was in the range of 6.636 < hS kJ/(min.K) < 11.125. The Unstable operation area was located between the T_C| and T_CE values, restricting the reactor operation area to the low stable temperatures.

Keywords : Stability criteria; propylene oxide; propylene glycol; runaway conditions.

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