Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Based on Table
7.19
, nitrate acid ester can be mixed with various inorganic
materials that usually produce high energy. Another characteristic of these explo-
sives is signi
cantly high charge density, and the mixture of nitrate acid ester and
metal powders are also considerable explosives.
7.3 Nitrate Nitrogen Oxide Based Liquid Explosives
7.3.1 Nitric Acid Liquid Explosives
Liquid nitrate-based explosives have high detonation velocity, strong detonation
strength, and strong shock sensitivity. Although these characteristics would not be
good as tetranitromethane-based explosives, they could make them still suitable for
general applications. In order to enhance the shock sensitivity of nitrate-based
explosives, dissolving a speci
c amount of tetranitromethane in nitric acid would be
available. These two chemicals are well miscible, and the tetranitromethane is not
coagulated and precipitated at
C and its solubility can still achieve 20 %.
Nitric acid serves as oxidizing agent, and its concentration should be above 95 %
to ensure the oxidation effect. The formulations of nitrate-based liquid explosives
with their performance are given in Table
7.20
.
−
10
°
7.3.1.1 Nitrate-o-Ethylbenzene Liquid Explosives [
50
]
Nitrate-o-ethylbenzene nitrate explosives are prepared by mixing of nitrate acid as
oxidant and o-ethylbenzene as a
c weight ratios. The
reaction of nitric acid and o-ethylbenzene can be described as follows:
fl
flammable agent at speci
C
8
H
9
NO
2
þ
7
:
4 HNO
3
!
8CO
2
þ
8
:
2H
2
O
þ
4
:
2N
2
(1) Raw materials
(2) Nitric acid (industrial grade), concentration: 90 and 85 % (w/w)
(3) O-ethylbenzene (ONEB) formula: C
8
H
9
NO
2
(4) Structure.
CH CH
23
N
O
2
