Safety Assessment on Hydrogen Peroxide for Storage and Transportation Based on Runaway Scenario

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide is a very versatile reagent for many industrial processes. Nevertheless, it is very sensitive to impurities that can catalyze its decomposition violently. Combining the recent year’s hydrogen peroxide explosion accidents, this paper seeks to establish the evaluation model for its safe storage and transportation. Firstly, the runaway scenario that can serve as a basis for the assessment of the thermal risk was briefly described. Secondly, the adiabatic temperature increase () and the pressure for closed systems were used as the severity of the assessment criteria. Both closed and open systems were discussed. Thirdly, the time to maximum rate (TMRad) was presented as the probability of occurrence of the scenario. Finally, the established model was exemplified by two examples both with and without contamination. The results show that at 20°C the severity of 30(wt.) % H2O2is critical and a small amount of Fe3+(12.7mg∙L-1) reduces theTMRadof 30(wt.) % H2O2by almost a factor of eleven. This approach can assess the safety of hydrogen peroxide for storage and transportation in advance.