Thermodynamic Analysis of the Possibility of Using Biomass as a Component of High-Energy Materials

Abstract

One of the unconventional, innovative ways of using biomass is using it as a component of high-energy material. According to conceptual assumptions, biomass can act as an energy carrier in modified high-energy materials-explosives (EX). Modification of the composition of the explosive requires the development of a method of introducing an additional component and changes its explosive and operational parameters (including safety). Thermodynamic calculation programs allow you to model the predicted energetic parameters of an explosive in order to select prospective compositions without the need to carry out a large number of costly and time-consuming field tests. This enables more effective design of new explosives compositions by narrowing down the scope of field tests using the “in situ” method. The use of renewable biomass as a corrector of EX properties may be a pro-environmental approach and reduces the production costs of the product. The thermodynamic simulations performed showed that, in the case of an appropriate proportion of ingredients, comparable and better energy properties were obtained in relation to the base composition. Moreover, the qualitative analysis of the sub-detonation products did not reveal the emission of additional gaseous components harmful to the environment compared to the reference explosive.