Ballast gas use in liquid phase oxidations

摘要

The amount of a ballast gas needed, to prevent combustion, deflagration, and/or detonations during a liquid phase reaction of molecular oxygen and a flammable process liquid, is reduced by using a ballast gas other than nitrogen. The ballast gas is selected to have a boiling point lower than the boiling point of the flammable process liquid and selected to produce a higher limiting oxygen value (LOV) in a mixture with the flammable process liquid vapor and molecular oxygen than the LOV for the corresponding mixture substituting just nitrogen for the inerting gas. <IMAGE>