Originally Posted by
WizardOfBoz
I'm a chemical engineer, cycco. Pretty familiar with a lot of different reactors (including nuclear). Interesting: PTFE (of which Teflon(R) is one brand) doesn't do well with gamma radiation. Lots of stories about trace components destroying seals in chemical reactors as well.
What kind of reactors do you deal with?
I use small reactors for processing biomass. I use ketones and alcohols to break the biomass down to cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Ketones are particularly hard on most o-ring materials, especially Viton. I learned that the hard way long ago when I couldn’t get the letdown valve to close and emptied the reactor sooner than I wanted.