Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Aside from using ammonia to prevent the freezing of liquid explosives, adding
thiocyanate hydrazine (N
2
H
5
SCN) or methyl hydrazine (CH
3
N
2
H
3
) can achieve
similar or even better results. The mass percentage of the former can be up to 30 %,
whereas the mass percentage of the latter can be up to 50 %.
To obtain the
“
optimal
”
explosion properties, the ratio between oxidants and
fl
flammable agent hydrazine should be maintained near zero oxygen balance; how-
ever, ammonia should not be included in the consideration of oxygen balance
relationship. When hydrazine nitrate is used as the sole oxidant, the theoretical
explosion equation can be described as follows:
N
2
H
5
NO
3
þ
0
:
25N
2
H
4
þ
0
:
5NH
3
!
3H
2
O
þ
2N
2
þ
0
:
75H
2
When the mixture of hydrazine nitrate and hydrazine perchlorate is used as the
oxidant, the explosion reaction equation can be described as follows:
2N
2
H
5
NO
3
þ
N
2
H
5
C1O
4
þ
1
:
5N
2
H
4
þ
NH
3
!
10H
2
O
þ
HC1
þ
6N
2
þ
1
:
5H
2
Based on the theoretical explosion reaction equation, the optimal ratio (mass
fraction) for the former should be 85.2 hydrazine nitrate/7.2 hydrazine/7.6
ammonia, whereas the optimal ratio for the latter should be 49.05 hydrazine nitrate/
34.17 perchloric acid hydrazine/12.40 hydrazine/4.38 ammonia.
Preparation of Astrolite G:
first, determine the amount of each chemical com-
ponent according to the formulation; second, hydrazine nitrate (or together with
hydrazine perchlorate) is allowed to mix with liquid hydrazine, and then ammonia
can be
flushed into the solution until hydrazine salt is completely dissolved in
hydrazine solution. By controlling the amount of ammonia added, one should be
able to obtain Astrolite G liquid explosives.
If this liquid explosive is employed for land casting applications, a 0.5
fl
3%
Guartec503 water-proof agent or Oxirane resin can be added to prevent explosives
from being soaked due to moisture, which often lead to failed blasting (Guartec503
is a water-proof agent).
The formulations of Astrolite explosives usually include anhydrous hydrazine, a
strong reducing substance, thus the mixture of which with air is prone to explosion
and combustion. Plus, anhydrous hydrazine is expensive and toxic. Consequently,
other combustible substances such as hydrazine hydrate and fatty acids have been
employed to substitute anhydrous hydrazine, affording excellent results in practical
applications.
-
7.4.1.2 Hydrazine Nitrate and Hydrazine Hydrate Liquid Explosives
Hydrazine nitrate itself is a powerful high explosive. It is usually prepared through
the low-temperature salini
cation of either anhydrous hydrazine or hydrazine
hydrate with nitric acid 65 % in the presence of methanol as the medium. This
approach, however, suffers from the high cost of anhydrous hydrazine and the
