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

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 (Delta 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 (dT/dt), maximum pressure rise rate ((dP/dt)(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.