TEMPERATURE OSCILLATION CALORIMETRY IN STIRRED-TANK REACTORS WITH VARIABLE HEAT-TRANSFER

A new method for applying reaction calorimetry to stirred tank reactors with variable heat transfer is presented. Sinusoidal temperature oscillations are induced by an electrical heater placed either in the reactor or in the jacket in order to decouple the chemical heat production from the variable heat transfer during reaction. Multiplication of the reactor heat balance by periodic functions and integration yields the overall heat transfer. Temperature oscillation calorimetry was successfully applied to the free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in ethyl acetate which shows a strong decrease in heat transfer.