REACTOR STABILITY AND SAFE REACTION-ENGINEERING

Stable operating behavior of chemical reactors and stability in the sense of stability theory of chemical processes are by no means synonymous concepts. Thus, appropriate control can permit reliable operation at an unstable operating point, while even global stability will not necessarily rule out a runaway reaction. The latter is the case when strongly exothermal reactions are characterized by a pronounced parametric sensitivity. In order to delineate the concepts, 'stability' and 'parametric sensitivity' are explained first for stirred tank and tubular reactors with strongly exothermal reaction. Both the conventional view of reaction engineering and the theory of heat explosion commonly used in reaction engineering are considered in detail. Practical problems of safe reaction engineering are subsequently discussed.