The thermal hazards of methyl nitrite (MN) were investigated in the present study. The determination and evaluation of MN decomposition were conducted using a C600 micro thermometer. The thermal runaway reaction characteristics of the compound under different initial pressures were obtained using a VSP2 calorimeter. The kinetic parameters of MN were obtained by regression fitting and calculation of the microthermal experimental data. The experimental and calculated results demonstrated that the potential explosion risk of MN is very high. In addition, there was a high energy barrier in the early stage of the uncontrolled decomposition of MN; however, once the decomposition reaction was initiated, the subsequent decomposition was easily conducted. Under the conditions of adiabatic simulation, the possibility that the reaction was uncontrolled increases with the initial temperature and pressure of the system, and there is a great potential safety risk. (C) 2020 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.