6. Causes of thermal runaway

Thermal runaway accidents occur when a set of enabling conditions are met in a chemical process, either because the process is intrinsically hazardous, or because a process drift can cause thermal runaway. The situation is often complex. However, a systematic study of accidents has shown that a limited number of dangerous process situations or drifts are involved.

The generic causes of thermal runaway have been discussed on the basis of examples in articles