Endex stabilization of thermally unstable and explosive liquid phase systems

Abstract

In Endex coupling of reactive systems an exothermic reaction is directly coupled to an endothermic reaction. This work demonstrates the potential of Endex storage systems for safe storage of explosive and dangerous substances. Rigorous criteria are derived for which thermal runaway is forbidden in an Endex storage system, which is thus intrinsically safe. For several industrial organic peroxides that undergo exothermic thermal decomposition, endothermic reaction partners are chosen from hydrated metal salts that undergo endothermic dehydrations. Thermokinetic data from the literature are used to test Endex stabilization of these systems numerically. It is found that Endex stabilization is successful for periods of at least one week even when therokinetic matching is not ideal. Some of the difficulties of Endex stabilization of peroxides thaat undergo multistage decomposition are highlighted.