Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Great post by th'Gaussling

Mettler-Toledo couldn't possibly get a better recommendation for its reaction calorimeters than this post by th' Gaussling: 
There’s a good argument for a chemist to conduct RC experiments as well. A trained synthesis chemist is qualified to conduct chemical reactions within their organization. That includes sourcing raw materials, handling them, running the reaction, and safely cleaning up the equipment afterwards. But interpreting RC1 data has a large physical chemistry component. In my experience, run of the mill inorganic/organic synthesis people may have seen PChem as an obstacle rather than a focus in their college education. Their skill set is in instrumental analysis like NMR and chromatography, mechanisms, and reaction chemistry. I would recommend having a PhD chemist with a focus on thermo in a leadership role when calorimetry is a key part of a busy process safety environment. 
Safety data can be collected and archived all day long. The crucial and often tricky part is how to develop best practices from the data. I would offer that this is inherently a cross-disciplinary problem. Calorimetric data from reaction chemistry can be collected readily, especially with the diverse and excellent instrumentation available today. Adiabatic temperature rise, ΔTad, can be determined by a chemist, but it’s the engineers who understand how the equipment may respond to a given heat release. A smooth and efficient technology transfer from lab to plant happens when good communication skills are used. Yes, SOP’s must be in place for consistency and safety. But the positive effect of individuals who have good social skills and are prone to volunteering information cannot be underestimated.
Good stuff, with lots of relevant details around purchasing and setting one up.  

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