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Thermal runaway risk of 2,2′-azobis(2-methylbutyronitrile) under the process situations

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Abstract

Thermal runaway accidents have occurred mainly during storage and transportation of azo compounds because large amounts of heat were released during the course of thermal decomposition. In this study, the thermal runaway characteristics of 2,2′-azobis(2-methylbutyronitrile) (AMBN) were first comprehensively investigated via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC), and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The onset temperature (Ton), heat of decomposition (Q), and adiabatic temperature rise (ΔTad) were determined, which were involved in the safety of storage and transportation. Corresponding thermokinetic analyses were performed using DSC and ARC data. The data obtained from the experiments and calculation were utilized to predict the self-accelerating decomposition temperature (SADT), the control temperature (TNR), and the emergency temperature (TC,I). In addition, the flammable components in the pyrolysis products of AMBN were studied, particularly mixed with incompatible materials, such as HCl, NaOH, and Fe2O3, which helped predict the risk of thermal runaway during storage and transportation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the support provided by all of the funding agencies mentioned below. The authors Jihe Zhao, Jiwen Hu, Shudong Lin, Xuefeng Gui, and Daguang He received funding from the International Science and Technology Cooperation Project in Guangdong Province (2020A0505100005), the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou City (201904020019), Guangzhou Science & Technology Project (No. 202102021194), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51173204).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Jihe Zhao, Jiwen Hu, Daguang He, Xuefeng Gui, Xiaohua Cui & Shudong Lin

  2. Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China

    Jihe Zhao

  3. Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510650, People’s Republic of China

    Jiwen Hu, Daguang He, Xuefeng Gui, Xiaohua Cui, Yuanyuan Tu & Shudong Lin

  4. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Organic Polymer Materials for Electronics, Guangzhou, 510650, People’s Republic of China

    Jiwen Hu, Yuanyuan Tu & Shudong Lin

  5. CAS Engineering Laboratory for Special Fine Chemicals, Guangzhou, 510650, People’s Republic of China

    Jiwen Hu, Yuanyuan Tu & Shudong Lin

  6. CASH GCC (Nanxiong) Fine Chemical Incubator Co., Ltd, Nanxiong, 512400, People’s Republic of China

    Jiwen Hu & Shudong Lin

  7. Management Committee of Shaoguan NanXiong Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone, Nanxiong, China

    Yonglu Dong

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  1. Jihe Zhao
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Zhao, J., Hu, J., Dong, Y. et al. Thermal runaway risk of 2,2′-azobis(2-methylbutyronitrile) under the process situations. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 6133–6150 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12113-4

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