SAFETY ASSESSMENT FOR POLYETHEROL PRODUCTION USING REACTION KINETIC DATA

The exact knowledge of the thermodynamic and the kinetic properties of a chemical reaction allows the prediction of the safe and dangerous s tates of this reaction under technical conditions. Reaction calorimetr ic measurements of the polymerisation reaction of propylene oxide on p olyfunctional alcohols showed that this reaction can be described by a modified first-order kinetic equation and that it releases a reaction energy of 1358 +/- 99 kJ per kg propylene oxide. With fixed thermodyn amic and kinetic data, technical and operational failures were simulat ed. This led to a concept for the safe handling of the polymerisation. The concept establishes a limit curve in temperature and pressure. Du ring the dosing of the propylene oxide, the measured temperature and p ressure values have to be below this limit, otherwise the design press ure of the production reactor will be exceeded resulting in an adiabat ic runaway reaction.