Thermal runaway is one of the common risks in chemical process safety. Thermal runaway accidents of various scales cause a lot of economic losses every year. The runaway of batch stirred reactor is particularly dangerous due to the single way to control the reaction rate.From the view point of intrinsic safety, optimal design of reactor and operating conditions can fundamentally prevent thermal runaway. In batch-operated stirred tank reactors, impeller rotation can enhance flow circulation, turbulence intensity, mixing degree, and heat transfer, thus effectively preventing thermal runaway. In this work, according to the esterification reaction of propionic anhydride and isopropanol to produce isopropyl propionate and propionic acid under the catalysis of concentrated sulfuric acid, CFD simulation was carried out to simulate the thermal runaway esterification reaction in stirred tanks. The effects of impeller type (Rushton impeller, 30° pitched blade turbine impeller and 60° pitched blade turbine impeller), rotation direction, and baffle on the temperature evolution were studied. The simulated flow structures were used to explain the effects. Furthermore, divergence criterion was used to compare the performance of resisting thermal runaway for different impellers. The simulation showed that the radial flow agitator performed better than the axial flow agitator at the same rotation speed, and the performance order was Rushton impeller>30° PBTD impeller>60° PBTD impeller. For the 30° PBT impeller, when the operating mode changed from PBTD to PBTU, the capability to resist thermal runaway weakens, though the number of circulation zone increased. The situation of 60° PBT impeller was similar to that of 30° PBT impeller. The addition of baffle can substantially improve the thermal control in the reactor. This research provided fundamentals for design, optimization, and scale-up of reactors.