Model-Based Prediction of the Adiabatic Induction Period and SADT of Dicumyl Peroxide Solution and Comparison to Large-Scale Experiments Performed Using 216.5-Liter Steel Drums in the UN-Test H.1

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of dicumyl peroxide dissolved in ethylbenzene has been studied in our laboratories using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), calvet calorimetry (C80), adiabatic calorimetry, reaction calorimetry and micro calorimetry. Based on the DSC and C80 experiments a formal kinetics model has been derived, which was compared to the other applied techniques. Finally we used our model to predict the thermal response of 216.5 L steel drums to exposure to constant elevated temperatures, both using the stationary Semenov approach as well as time-resolved CFD simulations. The prediction was compared to one-to-one testing using the UN-Test H.1. The observed level of consistency between model and experiments is remarkably good. The comparison with the 216.5 L testing clearly demonstrates that reliable and conservative predictions for technically relevant scales are possible as long as a validated model is used.