Risk assessment of polyarylether polymerization process

Abstract

As a special engineering plastics with excellent comprehensive properties, polyarylether (PAE) has been widely used in automobile manufacturing, aerospace, electronic communications, mechanical manufacturing and other fields. In industry, PAE is obtained by polymerization reaction. However, a number of accidents were caused by polymerization reactions. Therefore, a series of experiments were carried out to investigate the thermal hazard of PAE polymerization process to prevent the polymerization accidents. First, the reaction calorimeter (RC1e) was used to measure the heat released in the reaction process to obtain the thermodynamic parameters. The RC1e results showed that the adiabatic temperature rise (ΔTad) of polymerization was 97.99 °C, the maximum temperature attained by synthesis reaction was 127.99 °C and the maximum temperature technical for reasons was 110.60 °C. Then, the pyrolysis characteristics of the PAE in air and nitrogen atmosphere at different heating rates were scanned via thermogravimetry, and the apparent activation energy was calculated by Starink method. The PAE showed two significant mass loss peaks in the air atmosphere, but only one in the nitrogen atmosphere. The pyrolysis of PAE in the air atmosphere was more thoroughly compared to that in the nitrogen atmosphere. Finally, the risk class of thermal runaway of polymerization was evaluated according to the relevant criteria, the severity was “class 2,” and the risk class was “class 3.” These results were the foundation for preventive measures to reduce the potential risk during polymerization of PAE.