Study of TATP: stability of TATP solutions.

Stability of raw TATP (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane) samples in solutions of common solvents was studied to highlight problems faced by forensic labs in identification and analysis of organic peroxide samples. The TATP samples were prepared by reaction of acetone and hydrogen peroxide (30%) with the aid of following catalysts: hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, perchloric and methanesulfonic acid. Acetone, acetonitrile, methanol and acetonitrile/water solutions of TATP samples were prepared and stored at 50°C.

Thermal loading of explosives--finite difference method with time step reduction.

The method of simulation of heat transfer during thermal loading of energetic materials is introduced. The combination of the simple finite difference method with a time step reduction enables the quick and precise calculation of ignition times. The results are in accordance with published model data.

Power of TATP based explosives.

The power of various explosive mixtures based on triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP), ammonimum nitrate (AN), urea nitrate (UrN) and water (W), namely TATP/AN, oil/AN, TATP/UrN, TATP/W and TATP/AN/W, was studied using the ballistic mortar test. The ternary mixtures of TATP/AN/W have relatively high power in case of the low water contents. Their power decrease significantly with increasing the water content in the mixture to more than 30%.

cis-1,3,4,6-Tetranitrooctahydroimidazo-[4,5-d]imidazole (BCHMX), its properties and initiation reactivity.

Using the (15)N NMR chemical shifts of nitrogen atoms in nitramino groups of cis-1,3,4,6-tetranitrooctahydroimidazo-[4,5-d]imidazole (bicyclo-HMX or BCHMX) and additional 10 nitramines, we have assessed its reactivity in detonation, under the influence of impact, and by action of electric spark. It is stated that the thermal stability of BCHMX is higher than that of 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX). The longest NN bond in the BCHMX molecule (1.

Some properties of explosive mixtures containing peroxides Part I. Relative performance and detonation of mixtures with triacetone triperoxide.

This study concerns mixtures of triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP) and ammonium nitrate (AN) with added water (W), as the case may be, and dry mixtures of TATP with urea nitrate (UN). Relative performances (RP) of the mixtures and their individual components, relative to TNT, were determined by means of ballistic mortar. The detonation energies, E0, and detonation velocities, D, were calculated for the mixtures studied by means of the thermodynamic code CHEETAH.

Some properties of explosive mixtures containing peroxides Part II. Relationships between detonation parameters and thermal reactivity of the mixtures with triacetone triperoxide.

This study concerns mixtures of triacetone triperoxide (3,3,6,6,9,9-hexamethyl-1,2,4,5,7,8-hexoxonane, TATP) and ammonium nitrate (AN) with added water (W), as the case may be, and two dry mixtures of TATP with urea nitrate (UN). Relative performances (RP) of the mixtures and their individual components, relative to TNT, were determined by means of ballistic mortar. Thermal reactivity of these mixtures was examined by means of differential thermal analysis and the data were analyzed according to the modified Kissinger method (the peak temperature was replaced by the temperature of decomposition onset in this case).

MORT WorkSheet or how to make MORT analysis easy.

The article is devoted to incident investigation, specifically to one of its aspects: the satisfactory identification of root causes. Management Oversight and Risk Tree (MORT) technique is exploited as a tool that helps to fulfill the task. However, since the application of traditional MORT diagrams was not considered satisfactory, a new software tool MORT WorkSheet was developed to make the MORT analysis easier.

Decomposition of some polynitro arenes initiated by heat and shock Part II: Several N-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-substituted amino derivatives.

Samples of 2,4,6-trinitroaniline (PAM), 2,4,6-trinitro-N-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)aniline (DPA), N,N'-bis(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-3,5-dinitropyridine-2,6-diamine (PYX) and N,N',N''-tris(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine (TPM) were exposed to heat or to shock and then analysed chromatographically (LC-UV and LC/MS). It was found that the main identified decomposition products of these two incomplete initiations are identical for each of the compounds studied. It has been stated that the chemical micro-mechanism of the primary fragmentations of their low-temperature decomposition should be the same as in the case of their initiation by shock, including fragmentation during their detonation transformation.

New aspects of initiation reactivities of energetic materials demonstrated on nitramines.

A brief survey is presented of the author's results obtained from studies of the chemical micro-mechanisms of nitramines initiation from the point of view of organic chemistry. The relationships have been presented and discussed between the characteristics of impact and electric spark sensitivities, detonation and thermal decomposition, on the one hand, and (15)N NMR chemical shifts of nitrogen atoms of nitramino groups, on the other. In the case of the impact sensitivity, the said relationships involve the (15)N shifts of the amino nitrogen atoms carrying the nitro group primarily split off from the molecule.

Decomposition of some polynitro arenes initiated by heat and shock Part I. 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene.

Samples of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) exposed to heat or to shock and residues after their detonation have been analyzed chromatographically (LC-UV and LC/MS). It was found that the main identified decomposition intermediates are identical in all the three cases. 4,6-Dinitro-2,1-benzoisoxazole and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzaldehyde are the most reactive from them.