Safety Design Criteria for the Emergency Discharge of Hazardous Substances in Small and Medium-Sized Polystyrene Polymerization Batch Reactor Processes: Case Study of the South Korean Chemical Industry
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Determination of the emission capacity during runaway reactions and open pool fires in the polystyrene polymerization process (styrene monomer).
- Selection of a discharge header size with a Mach number of ≤0.5 and calculation of the amount of condensation for each climate using a process simulation program (the Aspen flare system analyzer).
- Assuming that the smallest amount of condensation for each climate is condensed in the knockout drum and that uncondensed steam flows into the heat exchanger, a process simulation program was used to design the steam to be condensed.
2. Problem Description and Selection of the Chemical Plant
2.1. Runaway Reaction
2.2. Accident Overview and Previous Research
2.3. Selection of the Polystyrene Production Plant
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Determination of Rupture Disk Size When the Runaway Reaction Occurs
3.2. Determination of Rupture Disk Size When the Runaway Reaction Occurs (Diagrammatic Method)
3.3. Determination of Emission Capacity during an Open Pool Fire
3.4. Selection of the Discharge Header
3.5. Selection of the Knockout Drum and Heat Exchanger
3.6. Case Study of the Application in a Small–Medium-Sized Chemical Plant in South Korea
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Experimental Parameter | Result |
---|---|
Maximum temperature rise rate at the saturation temperature of the reactor design pressure () | 45 K/min (0.75 K/s) |
Maximum temperature rise rate at the saturation temperature of the maximum allowable working pressure () | 48.7 K/min (0.81 K/s) |
Item | Specifications |
---|---|
Reactor size | 2000 mm (inner diameter) × 3000 mm (height) (11.5 m3), 10 reactors |
Distance to knockout drum | 30,000 (mm) |
Reactor design pressure, rupture disk set pressure | 3 bar (g) |
Maximum allowable working pressure | 5 bar (g) |
Reactor installation location | Confined |
Mass of styrene monomer in the reactor | 5600 kg |
Variable | Definition |
---|---|
Mass flux (3528.2 kg/·s) | |
Heat of evaporation of the fluid (318.2 kJ/kg) | |
Change in the specific volume of the flashing liquid/gas (0.0864 ) (0.00143 ) | |
Heat capacity of the fluid (2.363 kJ/kg·K) | |
Absolute saturation temperature of the fluid at the set pressure (476.62 K) | |
Gravitational constant (1 kg/·s) |
Variable | Definition |
---|---|
Exothermic heat release rate (1.504 kJ/kg·s) | |
Liquid heat capacity at constant volume (1.928 kJ/kg·K) | |
Temperature rise at the set pressure (0.75 K/s) | |
Temperature rise at the maximum allowable working pressure (0.81 K/s) |
Variable | Definition |
---|---|
A | Rupture disk area () |
Mass of styrene monomer in the reactor (5600 kg) | |
Reactor volume () | |
− |
Variable | Definition |
---|---|
A | Rupture disk area (7232 |
W | Required capacity (23,807.5 kg/h) |
Z | Compressibility factor (0.905) |
M | Molecular weight (104.2 kg/kg mol) |
3.948 k = the heat capacity coefficient (1.0683) | |
α | Coefficient depending on the shape of the rupture disk installation nozzle (0.68) |
P | Rupture disk set pressure (abs) (4.01325 bar) |
Absolute saturation temperature of the fluid at the set pressure (476.62 K) |
Device | Lateral/Tail Pipe | Main Header (If Applicable) |
---|---|---|
Pop-action, pilot-operated pressure release valve (PRV) | PRV rated capacity | Required relieving rate |
Modulating | Required relieving rate | Required relieving rate |
Spring-loaded PRV | PRV rated capacity | Required relieving rate |
Rupture disk | Required relieving rate | Required relieving rate |
Buckling pin device | Required relieving rate | Required relieving rate |
Max. Temp., Max. Wind Speed | Max. Temp., Ave. Wind Speed | Min. Temp., Max. Wind Speed | Min. Temp., Ave. Wind Speed | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Condensation rate (%) (reactor 10/6) | 71.44%/70.25% | 68.0%/67.73% | 75.06%/72.92% | 68.3%/67.96% |
Condensation amount (kg/h) (reactor10/6) | 254,070.3 kg/h /249,850.2 kg/h | 241,809.5 kg/h/ 240,885.6 kg/h | 266,937.8 kg/h /259,334.8 kg/h | 242,915.2 kg/h/ 241.693.3 kg/h |
Header size (reactor 10/6) | 30 inches (0.762 m) | 30 inches (0.762 m) | 30 inches (0.762 m) | 30 inches (0.762 m) |
Shell Side | Tube Side | |
---|---|---|
Fluid | Cooling water | Styrene monomer |
Fluid quantity (kg/h) | Calculated by the program | 111,643.9 |
Allowable pressure drop (bar) | 0.5 | 0.14 |
Input/output temperature (°C) | 32/37 | Vapor fraction 1/0 |
Fouling resistance (m2 h °C/kcal) | 0.00021 | 0.00021 |
Size: 700–2700 mm | Type: BEM Horizontal | Connected in 2 parallel 1 series | ||||||||||||
Surf/unit(eff.) 162.9 m2 | Shells/unit 2 | Surf/shell (eff.) 81.4 m2 | ||||||||||||
PERFORMANCE OF ONE UNIT | ||||||||||||||
Fluid allocation | Shell side | Tube side | ||||||||||||
Fluid name | Cooling water | Styrene monomer | ||||||||||||
Fluid quantity, total | kg/h | 1,829,153 | 114,757 | |||||||||||
Vapor (in/out) | kg/h | 0 | 0 | 114,757 | 0 | |||||||||
Liquid | kg/h | 1,829,153 | 1,829,153 | 0 | 114,757 | |||||||||
Noncondensable | kg/h | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
Temperature (in/out) | °C | 32 | 37 | 151.37 | 146.42 | |||||||||
Bubble/dew point | / | / | 151.4 | / | 151.4 | 149.0 | / | 149.0 | ||||||
Density (Vap/Liq) | kg/m3 | / | 987.3 | / | 982.4 | 3.6 | / | / | 785.5 | |||||
Viscosity | cp | / | 0.786 | / | 0.711 | 0.009 | / | / | 0.225 | |||||
Specific heat | kcal/(kg-C) | / | 1.080 | / | 1.080 | 0.389 | / | / | 0.492 | |||||
Thermal conductivity | kcal/(h-m-C) | / | 0.53 | / | 0.536 | 0.016 | / | / | 0.095 | |||||
Latent heat | kcal/kg | 83.48 | 83.8 | |||||||||||
Pressure (abs) | kgf/cm2 | 4.092 | 3.631 | 1.197 | 1.126 | |||||||||
Velocity (Mean/Max) | m/s | 2.09 | / | 2.36 | 21.93 | / | 43.67 | |||||||
Pressure drop, allow./calc. | kgf/cm2 | 0.51 | 0.462 | 0.143 | 0.07 | |||||||||
Fouling resistance (min) | m2-h-C/kcal | 0.00021 | 0.00021 | 0.00025 | Ao based | |||||||||
Heat exchanged | 9,860,507 | kcal/h | MTD corrected | 114.98 | °C | |||||||||
Transfer rate, service | 526.5 | Dirty | 1024 | Clean | 1949.7 | kcal/(h-m2-C) |
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Kim, S.-R.; Kim, S.-G. Safety Design Criteria for the Emergency Discharge of Hazardous Substances in Small and Medium-Sized Polystyrene Polymerization Batch Reactor Processes: Case Study of the South Korean Chemical Industry. Fire 2024, 7, 260. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070260
Kim S-R, Kim S-G. Safety Design Criteria for the Emergency Discharge of Hazardous Substances in Small and Medium-Sized Polystyrene Polymerization Batch Reactor Processes: Case Study of the South Korean Chemical Industry. Fire. 2024; 7(7):260. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070260
Chicago/Turabian StyleKim, Sang-Ryung, and Sang-Gil Kim. 2024. "Safety Design Criteria for the Emergency Discharge of Hazardous Substances in Small and Medium-Sized Polystyrene Polymerization Batch Reactor Processes: Case Study of the South Korean Chemical Industry" Fire 7, no. 7: 260. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070260