Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
no explosion has been observed in the impact experiment of 5 kg hammer with
50 cm height. These liquid explosives are not corrosive, not very volatile, and
produce less-toxic gases upon explosion. Therefore, this class of explosives is
convenient and safe in terms of handling and utilizing; however, they can only be
used on special occasions due to the high price.
7.1.2 Tetranitromethane-Based Liquid Explosives
Tetranitromethane appears as a type of heavy oil liquid with freezing point of
13.0
C. It is highly volatile but not decomposed during
the boiling, and is insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents, e.g., alcohol,
benzene, and kerosene as well as nitro compounds. In addition, it can form the
eutectic mixture with speci
°
C and boiling point of 126
°
c nitro compounds (see Table
7.13
). Tetranitromethane
has pungent order as the nitrogen dioxide with density of 1.65 g/cm
3
at 20
C.
Tetranitromethane is of explosion whose oxygen balance is 49 % with explosion
heat of 1,892 J/g. The pure tetranitromethane is of poor sensitivity that cannot be
detonated by even 10 g special as booster. However, it is violently explosive when
it is mixed with combustible material at almost zero oxygen balance, and it has a
small critical diameter (thickness) and significant detonation and shock sensitivity.
Such explosives are generally prepared when they are needed and the quantity
addresses the requirement exactly regarding the safety considerations. Table
7.14
lists the detonation properties of tetranitromethane and certain combustible com-
pounds at zero oxygen balance.
The liquid explosive consisting of 86.5 tetranitromethane to 13.5 toluene has a
density of 1.45 g/cm
3
, explosion heat of 7,114 J/g, explosion temperature of
6,673 K, and explosion velocity of 9,000 m/s which is one of fast explosion velocity
explosive so far [
40
].
The mixture of Tetranitromethane and poly butyl methacrylate can be used as a
viscous liquid explosive. The poly butyl methacrylate can reduce the volatility of
°
Table 7.13 General eutectic mixture formed by tetranitromethane
Nitro
compounds
C(NO
2
)
4
con-
tent (%)
ʸ
s/
°
C
Nitro
compounds
C(NO
2
)
4
con-
tent (%)
ʸ
s/
°
C
Benzene
70.0
−
16.1
Dinitrobenzene
97.0
11.3
Nitrobenzene
57.0
19.1
2,4,6-
trinitrotoluene
97.0
12.3
−
O-nitrotoluene
41.5
28.5
ʱ
-nitrobenzene
90.0
9.3
−
Internitrotoluene
47.5
−
24.0
Special Kuehl
Limited
solubility
-
Right-
nitrotoluene
81.5
1.5
RDX
95.0
12.5
Aviation
kerosene
65.0
18.6
n-heptane
95.0
17.6
−
