Effects of cumene hydroperoxide on phenol and acetone manufacturing by DSC and VSP2

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2010-11, Vol.102 (2), p.579-585
• Main Authors: Huang, Chun-Chin, Peng, Jiou-Jhu, Wu, Sheng-Hung, Hou, Hung-Yi, You, Mei-Li, Shu, Chi-Min
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetone; Analytical Chemistry; Applied sciences; Calorimetry; Chemical engineering; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; CHP; Cogeneration power plants; Cumene hydroperoxide; Differential scanning calorimetry; Exact sciences and technology; Exothermic reactions; Hazards; Heat of formation; Inorganic Chemistry; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Phenol; Phenols; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Production processes; Safety
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926; 1572-8943
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-010-0953-z

Cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) being catalyzed by acid is one of the crucial processes for producing phenol and acetone globally. However, it is thermally unstable to the runaway reaction readily. In this study, various concentrations of phenol and acetone were added into CHP for determination of thermal hazards. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) tests were used to obtain the parameters of exothermic behaviors under dynamic screening. The parameters included exothermic onset temperature ( T 0 ), heat of decomposition (Δ H d ), and exothermic peak temperature ( T p ). Vent sizing package 2 (VSP2) was employed to receive the maximum pressure ( P max ), the maximum temperature ( T max ), the self-heating rate (d T/ d t ), maximum pressure rise rate ((d P/ d t ) max ), and adiabatic time to maximum rate ((TMR) ad ) under the worst case. Finally, a procedure for predicting thermal hazard data was developed. The results revealed that phenol and acetone sharply caused a exothermic reaction of CHP. As a result, phenol and acetone are important indicators that may cause a thermal hazard in the manufacturing process.