  A stability analysis is presented of the hydrolysis of methyl isocyanate
(MIC) using a homogeneous flow reactor paradigm. The results simulate the
thermal runaway that occurred inside the storage tank of MIC at the Bhopal
Union Carbide plant in December 1984. The stability properties of the model
indicate that the thermal runaway may have been due to a large amplitude, hard
thermal oscillation initiated at a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. This type of
thermal misbehavior cannot be predicted using conventional thermal diagrams,
and may be typical of liquid thermoreactive systems.
