Objective
Polymerization reactors are widely used throughout the industrialized world in the production processes of many common materials such as polystyrene, polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyacrylates (e.g. plexiglass). A survey carried out in 1990 by the UK Health and Safety Executive showed that, over period up to 1987, an average of five serious industrial incidents due to runaway polymerization reactions occurred every two years. Against this background, and in the framework of reduction of risks to human health and the environment, many of Europe's leading chemical companies have expressed a strong need to improve the modelling capability available for the design of emergency pressure relief systems for such reactors. The present proposal is focussed on this area and is characterised by a problem-solving approach.
Many runaway reactions that are of greatest concern are those that involve highly-viscous multiphase fluids (viscosities typically greater than 1000cP). There are considerable uncertainties in specifying the required safety valve and pipe sizes to handle such fluids so that, if activated, the emergency pressure relief systems will be able to discharge reactor contents at a rate that will prevent a dangerous build-up of pressure and temperature in the reactor vessel. However, the basic hindrance to the development of improved modelling techniques is the extremely limited experimental database on the flow of highly-viscous multiphase fluids (reacting and non-reacting) in vessels, safety valves and piping.
In view of the variety of polymerization processes, it is necessary for this project to adopt a generic approach, i.e. to perform experiments that allow high-viscosity effects to be studied systematically and, on this basis, to develop generalised physical models for emergency pressure relief system design.
The INOVVATOR Project has the following objectives:
1. To complement the very limited experimental database on high-viscosity multiphase flows by performing a number of experiments designed to fill certain critical knowledge gaps such as liquid-vapour distribution in reactor vessels, the pressure drop characteristics of safety valves and associated pipe systems and corresponding mass discharge rates. 2. To create a computer database containing these and other available experimental data related to high- viscosity multiphase flows. 3. To develop or improve the modelling technology for highly-viscous flows used in the design of emergency pressure relief systems. This would be validated against the above database.
4. To exploit and disseminate the products of the project, e.g. by publications, presentations at industrial working groups and by incorporating the improved models in existing design software.
The resources necessary to achieve these objectives demand a trans-national approach. The project is also multidisciplinary in nature since skills in chemical and mechanical engineering and mathematical modelling are required.
The Project Consortium assembled on the basis of this approach comprises two research organisations and two universities: Joint Research Centre (IT), Health and Safety Laboratory (GB), Heriot-Watt University (GB) and the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg (DE).
The principal end-users of the products of this proposed project are engineers in both industry and research laboratories who are concerned with chemical reactor safety systems. The interest of the chemical industries in this project is evidenced by the letters of support attached to this proposal.
This proposal is considered relevant to the EC Environment and Climate Programme, Area 2.2.1.3 (Reducing Environmental Risks/lndustrial Safety).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- natural sciences computer and information sciences databases
- engineering and technology materials engineering amorphous solids organic amorphous solids
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering
- natural sciences mathematics applied mathematics mathematical model
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Coordinator
21020 ISPRA
Italy
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