Managing Hazardous Reactions and Compounds in Process Chemistry

There is always potential for hazards during chemical reactions that can lead to accidents resulting in loss of time, equipment, products and harm to people. The hazards may result from uncontrolled exothermic reactions or secondary exothermic reactions such as decomposition of a reactant, reagent or product. Hazards may also occur from impurities or metal residues that can catalyze undesired exothermic reactions or decompositions. Many organic reactants, reagents, products as well as solvents have varying degrees of toxic effects and/or fire hazard if not handled properly. Improperly treated waste may also be a source of many hazards. Managing all these hazards effectively is very important for carrying out reactions safely, particularly on large scale. To achieve this goal, chemists and engineers need a clear understanding of the thermal characteristics of chemical reactions derived from accurate quantitative measurements and clear scientific knowledge of reaction mechanisms. They also need to build an expertise on handling toxic and flammable materials and proper procedures to waste treatment and disposal.
To address these objectives, this book covers many topics on management of potential hazards in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The topics range from classical batch reactions to the latest innovative applications of continuous processes and flow chemistry. The applications range in scale from bench to manufacturing. The book contains 16 chapters on different aspects of managing chemical reaction hazards contributed by a group of internationally renowned leading chemical safety and hazard management experts. Their contributions make this book a valuable addition to the scientific literature.