Journal of Loss Prevention in The Process Industries, Vol.7, No.6, 481-491, 1994
VENT SIZING FOR GAS-GENERATING RUNAWAY REACTIONS
Exothermic runaway reactions that generate non-condensible gas as the temperature increases, as is typical of decompositions for example, can reach extremely high rates of pressure rise necessitating emergency relief of the process vessel containing the reactant. Sizing of a relief device using presently recommended methods (e.g. DIERS) frequently leads to extremely large and expensive vents. This paper presents a methodology that leads to a simple but much improved method for vent sizing, fully allowing for two-phase release of the gas-liquid mixture. A number of examples are presented which lead to interesting conclusions about the influence of plant variables.