Stability criteria and critical runway conditions of propylene glycol manufacture in a continuous stirred tank reactor

Abstract

Here, a new method for the analysis of the steady state and the safety operational conditions of the hydrolysis of propylene oxide with excess of water, in a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR), was developed. For industrial operational typical values, at first, the generated and removed heat balances were examined. Next, the effect of coolant fluid temperature in the critical ignition and extinction temperatures (TCI and TCE, 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 6.636 < hS kJ/(min.K) < 11.125. Unstable operation area was located between the TCI and TCE values, restricting the reactor operation area to the low stable temperatures.

Keywords

• stability criteria
• propylene oxide
• propylene glycol
• runaway conditions.