FUSED CHEMICAL-REACTIONS - THE USE OF DISPERSION TO DELAY REACTION-TIME IN TUBULAR REACTORS

Fused chemical reactions are delayed exothermic reactions. An axial di spersion model is used to simulate the flow of alternately injected pu lses of reactants separated by an inert. There is a delay in reaction and heat release because the reactants have to disperse through the in ert spacer to react. The feasibility of this technique is described fo r the reaction between ammonium chloride and sodium nitrite catalyzed by acetic acid. This technique can be successfully applied to the effe ctive dissolution of wax deposited in subsea pipelines. The delay in t he reaction is required to supply heat to regions further down the pip eline that are more susceptible to wax deposition. Simulation results show that the delay in the heat release depends on the width of the in ert spacer as well as the catalyst concentration. However, the amount of heat released depends on the inlet concentrations of the reactants. Simulations can successfully determine the inlet concentrations of th e reactants and catalyst as well as the inert spacer width for a desir ed temperature profile inside the pipeline.