Study of runaway phenomena in free radical polymerization by adiabatic calorimetry

Adiabatic calorimetry is a technique that has been introduced as an important approach to hazard evaluation of exothermically reactive systems. In this paper the free radical polymerization of Methyl Meth-Acrylate (MMA) has been studied. One of the most important aspects of MMA polymerization is its exothermicity and auto accelerating behaviour, these characteristics can generate the occurrence of a runaway reaction. In a runaway situation the reacting system is close to adiabatic behaviour because it is unable to eliminate the heat that is being generated. An even worse situation can be reproduced in the laboratory with the Phi-Tec adiabatic calorimeter. The existence of the ceiling temperature has been determined experimentally.