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Thermokinetic prediction and safety evaluation for toluene sulfonation process and product using calorimetric technology

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Abstract

Toluene sulfonation is a typical synthetic process in the modern chemical industry. However, there are unexpected thermal hazards in this process, resulting in thermal runaway accidents. Aiming at the toluene sulfonation process’s thermal safety and its product p-toluenesulfonic acid’s thermal stability, this study adopted the reaction calorimeter and differential scanning calorimetry to test its thermal behaviour. A variety of nonisothermal methods were used to calculate the kinetic parameters. Through the autocatalytic model and n-order model simulations, the reaction mechanism was speculated. The comparison showed that the apparent activation energy values calculated by iso-conversional methods were more reliable. The findings of the study can provide helpful data and suggestions for the toluene sulfonation reaction and product safety to reduce the potential risks in the industrial process.

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Abbreviations

A :

Pre-exponential factor (s−1)

C s :

Constant (dimensionless)

E a :

Apparent activation energy (kJ mol−1)

‾E a :

Average apparent activation energy (kJ mol−1)

f(α):

Dynamic mechanism function of the differential form (dimensionless)

G(α):

Integral form of the kinetic mechanism function (dimensionless)

k :

Reaction rate constant (W m−2 K)

MTSR:

Maximum temperature of the synthesis reaction (°C)

R :

Universal gas constant (8.314 J mol−1 K−1)

R 2 :

Linear fitting’s coefficient of determination (dimensionless)

t :

Time (sec)

T :

Absolute temperature (°C)

T iso :

Reaction temperature in isothermal condition (°C)

T o :

Onset temperature (°C)

T p :

Peak temperature (°C)

x ac :

Heat accumulation rate (dimensionless)

∆H :

Heat of reaction (J g−1)

ΔH R :

Heat of reaction measured by RC1 (kJ)

ΔT ad :

Adiabatic temperature rise (°C)

α :

Conversion rate (dimensionless)

β :

Heating rate (°C min−1)

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the National Key Research Development Program of China (No. 2021YFC3001203), National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 21927815), and General Natural Science Research Project of Jiangsu Universities in 2020 (No. 20KJB620002) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Changzhou University, No. 21, Gehu Mid-Rd., Wujin Dist., Changzhou, 213164, Jiangsu, China

    Zhi-Ping Li, An-Chi Huang, Yan Tang, Zhi-Xiang Xing & Jun-Cheng Jiang

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Changzhou University, No. 21, Gehu Mid-Rd., Wujin Dist., Changzhou, 213164, Jiangsu, China

    Hai-Lin Zhou & Ye-Cheng Liu

  3. School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Zhaoqing University, No. 1, Zhaoqing Blvd., Zhaoqing, 526061, Guangdong, China

    Chung-Fu Huang

  4. Department of Safety, Health, and Environmental Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, No. 123, University Rd., Sec. 3, Yunlin, 64002, Taiwan, ROC

    Chi-Min Shu

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  1. Zhi-Ping Li
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Li, ZP., Huang, AC., Tang, Y. et al. Thermokinetic prediction and safety evaluation for toluene sulfonation process and product using calorimetric technology. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 12177–12186 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11384-7

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