Thermal Hazard Assessment of Benzoyl Peroxide Mixed with Dry Fire-Extinguishing Chemicals

Organic Peroxides (OPs) can cause fires and explosions due to exothermic decomposition reaction. Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is one of the most commonly used organic peroxides in industry and its hazards have been revealed in many incidents in different countries. Usually, water and dry fire-extinguishing chemicals are used to eliminate fires. Extinguishing agents are divided into four main categories: ABC powder (containing ammonium dihydrogen phosphate), XBC powder (containing potassium chloride), BC powder (containing sodium bicarbonate), and KBC powder (potassium bicarbonate). Many studies have evaluated the hazards of OPs, but few research focus on OPs combined with fire-extinguishing agents and there is no report on BPO decomposition in the presence of fire-extinguishing chemicals. However, it is crucial to understand whether the fire-extinguishing agents can decrease the thermal hazards of organic peroxides or not. For example, ABC powder is proved to be an effective inhibitor during cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) decomposition. In contrast, CHP decomposition reaction is more dangerous when mixing with XBC and KBC powder. Therefore, it is important to understand the thermal hazard of various Ops mixed with different fire-extinguishing chemicals. The objective of this study is to investigate runaway reactions of benzoyl peroxide mixed with NH₄H₂PO₄, KCl, NaHCO₃ and KHCO₃ using adiabatic calorimeter. Thermal hazard is evaluated by determining the safety parameters such as the “onset” temperature, heat of decomposition and activation energy. The results from this study can provide useful information and recommendations when dealing with fires caused by thermal decomposition of benzoyl peroxide.

Keywords:

Thermal decomposition, adiabatic calorimeter, fire-fighting agents