What is DIERS Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems?
Under the AIChE “The Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS) was formed in 1976 as a consortium of 29 companies to develop methods for the design of emergency relief systems to handle runaway reactions
DIERS SPENT $1.6 million to investigate the two-phase vapor-liquid onset/disengagement dynamics and the hydrodynamics of emergency relief systems. Of particular interest to DIERS were the prediction of two-phase flow venting and the applicability of various sizing methods for two-phase vapor-liquid flashing flow.
DIERS became a Users Group in 1985 with over 200 companies (75 percent domestic and 25 percent international) ultimately requesting membership and having their corporate representatives participate in the semi-annual meetings.
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The Purpose of DIERS
- To reduce the frequency, severity, and consequences of pressure producing accidents, and
- To develop new techniques which will improve the design of emergency relief systems.
Fauske & Associates (FAI) was the principal research contractor for the Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems (DIERS), an extensive R & D program sponsored by those 29 companies under the auspices of AIChE and completed in 1985. Company founder, Dr. Hans K. Fauske served as the principal investigator and overall technical leader of the DIERS research project. A primary purpose of that effort was the evaluation of emergency relief vent requirements, including energy and gas release rates for systems under upset conditions and the effect of two-phase flow on the emergency discharge process.
The DIERS program resulted in the development of a bench-scale low thermal inertia adiabatic calorimeter, which was first commercialized as the Vent Sizing Package (VSP2™). Later improvements led to the VSP2™. The Reactive System Screening Tool (RSST™) was introduced by FAI in 1989 to provide an easy, inexpensive approach to the DIERS testing method. Recent enhancements led to the Advanced RSST (ARSST™) in 1999. FAI uses the DIERS-based VSP2™ and ARSST™ calorimeters to characterize chemical systems and design emergency pressure relief systems. Both instruments provide vent sizing data that are directly applicable to the process scale.
Dr. Fauske provided overall technical direction for the AIChE’s acclaimed DIERS program formed to develop methods for the design of emergency relief systems to handle runaway reactions. Currently, Dr. Fauske is performing a pivotal role in resolving potential process safety issues and the development of inherently safe nuclear and chemical process reactor concepts.