8: Isothermal Reaction Calorimetry and Adiabatic Calorimetry

Isothermal reaction calorimetry (IRC) and adiabatic calorimetry (AC) are techniques that are commonly used within the chemical process industry for the development and safe scale-up of reactions. In order to operate any chemical process safely and economically, it is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of the effect that heat has on the reaction. This understanding can be split into two parts: what is intended to happen (the normal reaction) and what happens unintentionally (the abnormal, or thermal runaway). Although there are some overlaps, the normal reaction is typically characterised using isothermal reaction calorimetry and the abnormal reaction using adiabatic calorimetry. This chapter considers both IRC and AC and their application to process safety.