Inherently Safer Characteristics of HEX Reactors

The feasibility of operating highly exothermic reactions in a HEX reactor has been demonstrated, some considerations can also be given concerning the inherently safer characteristics of an intensified continuous HEX reactor. This type of evaluation has been conducted on the OPR, using the esterification of propionic anhydride by 2-butanol as test reaction [36, 37]. 

This study shows that in case of a major deviation corresponding to the stop of both the utility and the reactant lines, part of the energy released by the reaction would be immediately dissipated in the plates closer to the reaction mixture. 

Therefore, consideration of this mass in heat-transfer phenomenon leads to a significant temperature decrease reached after deviation and increases the time to maximum rate. This reveals an intrinsically safer behavior of this apparatus compared to that of batch reactors. 

In the field of PI, the transposition of the chemical reaction operation from batch to continuous mode represents a critical point. In this chapter, some examples of HEX reactors, allowing this transposition, have been presented. 

The main characteristics of these apparatuses are their plug-fiow behavior allowing a continuous production, their ability to exchange rapidly a large amount of heat authorizing intensified new chemical synthesis operating conditions, and the low holdup inside the reactor. 

---