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The new generation of chemical manufacturing
protection systems is being developed by researchers from the Russian
Research Center “Applied Chemistry” in cooperation with the Open Joint
Stock Company “Khiminform” and foreign colleagues from the “Berwanger”
company. In the course of the project which is sponsored by the CRDF
international foundation and Rosnauka, the authors plan to design the
software that would not only allow to discover trouble spots in
manufacturing processes at the chemical and petrochemical industry
enterprises, but also to ensure safety of these processes. This deals
with equipment protection from abnormal high pressures in case of
emergency, in other words – i.e., this deals with explosions and the
ways to fight with them.
Naturally, chemical plants use double and triple
security circuits now, as professionals put it, particularly in the
most potentially hazardous sections of manufacturing process. However,
what these trouble spots requiring additional protection are gets
sometimes apparent only when the process is already beyond control.
However, explosion is not the price to be paid in order to learn how
the equipment would behave in emergency event. This is certainly
obvious. As well as the fact that chemical and physical processes
proceeding in the damaged reactor are so complicated that the
researchers have failed so far to forecast them and particularly to
develop really efficient equipment to protect reactors from explosion.
Apparently, the problem can not be solved without
mathematical modelling. Only electronic brain (with its memory, speed
of operation, ability to consider a multitude of parameters
influencing the development of processes in the chemical reactor) is
capable of solving such a complicated and multidimensional problem.
However, the computer’s enormous capabilities are not enough. Software
is also required which has not been in place so far due to the task
complexity.
More precisely, some rather efficient software
packages have been developed recently. On the other hand, this
software package called "Pressure Protection Manage"” (developed by
the US "Berwanger" company) is intended particularly to design
pressure release systems for oil, gas and petrochemical manufacturing.
Alas, this program does not allow to analyze chemical processes. But
there is another program – developed in Russia by the specialists of
the Russian Research Center "Applied Chemistry" (St. Petersburg) and
their colleagues from "Khiminform".
It is called "Batch Stirred Tank" and is designed
to simulate thermal explosion in chemical reactors. "The majority of
researchers and engineers of our Institute involved in this project
have already participated in researches of hazards of thermal
explosion in manufacturing, storage and application of explosives",
says Arkady Kossoy, deputy project manager. "When developing the BST
systems we used the experience in simulating various emergency
scenarios based on thorough investigation of kinetics of proceeding
reactions jointly with the heat-mass exchange processes. Having
combined capabilities of these two approaches – ours and the one
developed by the US specialists – I am sure we shall be able to
develop the software, which in the future would allow to protect the
equipment from explosion in the chemical and petroleum-refining and
pharmaceutical industries - everywhere, where explosions in reactors
are possible and protection from them is required." |
