Process Intensification and Inherently Safer Processes

When dealing with highly exothermic reactions, process industries have long-established techniques for safe processing, often by slowing down such reactions, to a rate where heat evolution can be matched by the limited mass and heat transfers available in conventional reactors. Nevertheless, many serious accidents with exothermic reactions can be counted. A larger reactor requires careful calculation of potential heat flows, due to the high potential risks related to run-away reactions, loss of control and containment. 

Polymerization and nitration are two particular examples, which are well understood but regularly misjudged at considerable cost, even by experienced companies. PI equipments (e.g., S D R) potentially offer a scale-independent way of eliminating such hazards. They offer the possibility of faster process development cycles, tiny inventories at risk and negligible risk of safety or quality pit-falls as production is scaled-up. 

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