Working group
Test vessel before (left) and dissected after the thermal runaway of a chemical reaction under adiabatic conditions (right)
Most chemical synthesis reactions are exothermic. In the course of such reactions energy is set free and a controlled energy release must be ensured, for both normal operation and for deviations from the normal process. Furthermore, possible gaseous products are to be taken into account. If the heat release is not sufficiently controlled during normal operation or if there are deviations from the norm the temperature of the reaction mixture will increase. This leads to an exponential increase in the reaction rate. As a result of increasing heat and pressure the design limits of plant components may be exceeded, chemical contents may escape from the apparatus and the apparatus may even explode. This effect is known as runaway reaction.
In order to avoid runaway reactions safety characteristics must be known, e.g. heat generation or gas production. Furthermore profound knowledge of the thermal stability of all substances or mixtures used and produced during the reaction are necessary for a safety assessment.
BAM also examines exothermic reactions, carried out in microstructured reactors. In particular gaseous-liquid reactions, running in a Falling film micro reactor (FFMR), are the scope of activities. An assembly of Seebeck elements allows the measurement of the heat generation rate spread over the reaction plate.
Please find more publications and conference contributions in the database "PUBLICA" .
