Gas production from thermal decomposition of explosives: Assessing the thermal stabilities of energetic materials from gas production data

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The gas formation associated with the thermal decompositions of nineteen energetic materials was determined at three temperatures (120°C, 220°C and 320°C). Although there was considerable variability within classes, among the largest producers of gas were the nitrate esters. PETN (pentaerythritol nitrate) generated about 6.3mole gas per mole, while nitrocellulose, produced almost no gas. Second in gas production were the nitramines, followed by nitroarenes and lastly, energetic salts. NTO (5-nitro-2, 4-dihydro-3H-1, 2, 4-triazol-3-one), which does not fit into the four main classes of energetic materials, exhibited gas production (2.13 mole gas per mole NTO) comparable with some nitroarenes and the energetic salt, ammonium dinitramide (ADN). For selected compounds gas evolution data was used to construct first-order plots, from which Arrhenius parameters were determined and compared with previously reported values.