Thermal risk assessment of tert-butylperoxy-2-ethylhexyl carbonate for storage and transport

Abstract

Tert-butylperoxy-2-ethylhexyl ester (TBEC) is a typical organic peroxide that is used in pharmaceuticals, materials, intermediates or as a polymerization initiator, and it has a large amount of consumption. We examined the thermal risks of TBEC during storage and transport by using differential scanning calorimetry and thermal activity monitor III to investigate its thermal stability and thermal hazards. Non-isothermal and isothermal experiments were used to calculate the apparent activation energy (E(α)), compare the calculated kinetic data, pre-exponential factor, and other parameters, and infer the thermal behaviour of TBEC under pseudo-adiabatic conditions. According to the calculation results, the E(α) under non-isothermal conditions calculated through the Friedman isothermal kinetic method ranged from 91.47 to 177.35 kJ mol−1. E(α) under isothermal conditions ranged from 157.18 to 143.28 kJ mol−1. TBEC was also tested under pseudo-adiabatic conditions using vent sizing package 2 to investigate uncontrolled thermal runaway. The calculated self-accelerating decomposition temperature was 34.0 °C. Our results provide an insight into the thermal decomposition of TBEC and supply reliable data for its storage and transport processes.