A combination of a residual film of flammable organic substance, air and structured packing may result in a fire during maintenance, at start up or after shut down. The self-ignition temperature depends on the substance (reactivity, volatility), construction and geometry of packing; heat loss conditions and accident scenario. In this article a dynamic model to determine heat transfer data and a over-adiabatic model to determine formal reaction kinetic data for the system studied are presented. These data are used as a basis for SIT simulation. The simulation basis is described as well. Next, experimental heat transfer and formal reaction kinetic data and experimental SIT study results are documented for the system (LEX/LDX packing/fatty acid Ti05, a mixture of oleic acid (67%) and linoleic acid (13%)). Comparison of simulated with experimental SIT data show acceptable agreement. As a conclusion of the studies a new and efficient procedure for SIT prediction in packing systems is proposed. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.