Method for estimating decomposition characteristics of energetic chemicals

Abstract

Experimental data on the decomposition characteristics of approximately400 chemicals, representing various classes of energetic materials, were summarized by chemical class and statistically analyzed. Average decomposition characteristics, such as energy of decomposition and decomposition onset temperature, were determined for chemical classes containing the following energetic groups: nitro, nitroso, N‐oxide, oxime, hydroxylamine, tetrazole, azide, triazene, triazole, diazo, azo, hydrazine, and perchlorate. Additional statistical information is presented for each chemical class, such as number of chemicals analyzed, ranges, and standard deviations for the decomposition parameters analyzed. For chemical classes containing an energetic group attached to an aromatic ring, the presence and position of another substituting group in the ring can significantly influence the decomposition onset temperature. The study summarizes the list of activating and deactivating functional groups, and the positions in the ring where the strongest activation or deactivation occurs. The authors also recommend a method for estimating decomposition parameters of new chemicals.

Development of a QSPR model for predicting thermal stabilities of nitroaromatic compounds taking into account their decomposition mechanisms

“…A typical experimental screening test is the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) [1,[4][5][6], which provides heats of decomposition with an error of about 5-10% [7].…”

Theoretical and Experimental Study of the Reaction between Ammonium Nitrate and Sodium Salts

“…From an experimental point of view, the thermal instability of a mixture of AN with additive(s) would be characterized by a lower decomposition temperature, when tested using calorimetric methods and the same configuration as pure AN. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Heat Flux Calorimetry (HFC) using upwards from 1 to 100 milligram sample sizes are capable of indicating such thermal instabilities 2,26 and were chosen as the experimental methods in the present work. But these experiments do not give details about the molecular reactions involved in the decomposition process.…”

Development of an advanced nanocalorimetry system for material characterization

“…The measured decomposition parameters for the selected compounds can also be compared with DSC measurements on the same compounds reported by Chervin and Bodman (2001). Another important application of the nanocalorimeter is to estimate the presence of contaminants in some industrial chemical systems with reactive behavior such as hydroxylamine based on depression of the measured onset temperature values (Cisneros, Rogers, & Mannan, 2004;Cisneros, Rogers, Mannan, Li, & Koseki, 2003;.…”