Reaction hazard analysis for dicumyl peroxide with phenol

Dicumyl peroxide(DCPO) is usually employed as an initiator for polymerization, a source of free radicals, a hardener, and a linking agent. The calculation about the kinetics and thermal decomposition of dicumyl peroxide (DCPO) and DCPO mixed with catalysts are required for safety concerns, because of its wide applications and accident cases. The isoconversional kinetic study on the thermal behaviour of DCPO and DCPO mixed with catalysts have been carried out by differential scanning calorimetry. The apparent activation energy EΛ and pre-exponential factor A are not constant during the reaction. Application of accurate decomposition kinetics enabled the determination of the time to maximum rate under adiabatic conditions (TMRnd) with a precision given by the confidence interval of the predictions. This analysis can then be applied for the examination of the effects of the surrounding temperature for safe manufacturing process.