In this study, different calorimetric and analytical techniques were
used to evaluate the thermal behaviour of the preparation of
1-nitronaphthalene through the nitration of naphthalene with mixed acid.
Differential scanning calorimetry and adiabatic calorimetry revealed
that 1-nitronaphthalene lacks thermal decomposition characteristics. The
results of reaction calorimetry, high-performance liquid chromatography,
and the density function theory method were combined to analyse the
reaction mechanism. An expanded Stoessel criticality diagram was
developed to evaluate the process safety of the semibatch nitration
reaction. The results revealed a higher degree of risk than that
obtained when using the traditional Stoessel criticality diagram.
Kinetics parameters of the reaction were investigated.