An Overview of SuperChems for DIERS for Emergency Relief System and Effluent Handling Designs

G.A.MELHEM

Arthur D.Little,Inc.,20Acorn Park.Cambridge,Massachusetts02140

H.G.FISHER

Union Carbide Corporation,South Charleston,West Virginia,25303

ABSTRACT

The Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems(DIERS)Users Group awarded Arthur D. Little,Inc.a contract to provide the next generation computer program for emergency relief system and effluent handling designs.

The new computer program,SuperChems for DIERS,is a dynamic simulator,capable of perform-ing emergency relief system and effluent handling designs for complex geometries and multiphase reaction systems.In addition,SuperChems for DIERS is an equation-of-state based program which provides several benefits over existing non-equation-of-state based methods for systems involving supercritical reactions like polymerizations of butadiene and acrylonitrile,solution ef-fects such as HCl/Water,and a priori determination of phase-splitting.

This new computer program allows the user to dynamically simulate several common configura-tions for vent containment design.For example,the user is able to simulate a vessel discharging a two-phase mixture into a quench/vent where the catch/vent tank will vent to a stack or a scrubber. Effluent handling equipment available includes separators(horizontal and vertical),cyclones,etc. The impact of back pressure and continuing reaction in the vent containment system is accounted for in the dynamic simulations.1

BACKGROUND

During the1st quarter of1996,the Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems(DIERS)Users Group awarded Arthur D.Little,Inc.a contract to provide the next generation computer program for emergency relief system and effluent handling designs.Highlights of the new computer program as outlined in the request for proposal are summarized below:

1.Provide a general purpose thermodynamic and transport properties generator with implicit

corrections for non-ideal behavior in both the liquid and vapor phase.The properties 1This paper appeared in the AIChE Loss Prevention Symposium Proceedings,March1997,Houston