Thermal explosion in semi-batch reactors

Abstract

The problem of thermal explosion in a semi-batch reactor is solved. The critical conditions for the thermal explosion are studied. It is shown that the ignition resulting from the chemical reaction is possible both during the stage of feeding of the second reactant solution and after its completion. The dynamic behavior of the reactor depending on the temperature of the heat exchanger and the volumetric feed rate of the second reactant is analyzed. It is shown that ignition at the feeding stage occurs at high temperature of the heat exchanger and involves two macroscopic stages. In the first stage, the temperature increases with increasing rate (thermal explosion regime), and in the second stage, its further increase occurs in the regime of combustion of the second reactant. The critical ignition conditions are found to be independent on the feed rate of the second reactant in a particular range of its values.