Yi-Ming Chang

Prediction of thermal hazard of liquid organic peroxides by non-isothermal and isothermal kinetic model of DSC tests

Liquid organic peroxides (LOPs) have been widely used as initiators of polymerization, hardening, or cross-linking agents. We evaluated a beneficial kinetic model to acquire accurate thermokinetic parameters to help preventing runaway reactions, fires or explosions in the process environment. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to assess the kinetic parameters, such as kinetic model, reaction order, heat of reaction (ΔHd), activation energy (Ea), frequency factor (lnk0), etc. The non-isothermal and isothermal kinetic models were compared to determine the validity of the kinetic model, and then applied to the thermal hazard assessment of commercial package contaminated with LOPs. Simulations of a 0.5-L Dewar vessel and 25-kg commercial package were performed. We focused on the thermal stability of different liquid system properties for LOPs. From the results, the optimal conditions were determined for avoiding violent heat effects that can cause a runaway reaction in storage, transportation, and manufacturing.