Safely Scale-up Processes and Accommodate Recipe Changes

Thermal hazards screening can be quickly and cost effectively performed to obtain the required data for the safe scale-up of chemical process and to accommodate changes to process recipes. Before scale-up, it is vital to identify safe temperature and pressure operating ranges, quantify the heat generated from a reaction, and the number of moles of gas generated. It is also prudent to determine the heat and gas generation rates to safety accommodate the reaction in the given process equipment. These rate data can also be used to verify the adequacy of the existing pressure relief system design. Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) and Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) reviews identify credible upset scenarios, and data are required to address these issues. When a process recipe or batch size is changed, data are necessary to quantify the effect of the change processes above parameters. For modification to existing processes, a management of change review should occur. Data addressing issues resulting from these reviews are readily available by performing calorimetry experiments with the Advanced Reactive System Screening Tool and similar calorimeters. Examples of these applications are included in this article. (C) 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers I Process Saf Prog 28: 135-140 2009