Explosives analysis analytical techniques

The research papers which originated in the last couple of years in different countries in this field indicate that ED and Er are not generally reported and there is an emphasis on the study of comprehensive thermal behavior of explosives as a function of temperature or time by means of different thermal analytical techniques. Most commonly used methods of thermal analysis are differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) or thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). 

Dr. Yinon s main activities involve applications of novel analytical techniques for the detection and analysis of hidden explosives. 

In designing the Process Safety Management standard (PSM), OSHA looked at overall process safety from a broad system s view and identified 14 key elements that industry should address to minimize catastrophic accidents. The 14 elements cover the things that can cause a process failure and accidents. Some of the major causes of process accidents are a lack of training, lack of information about process equipment, lack of equipment inspections, poor coordination with contractors, and lack of employee participation in process planning and implementation. The program is triggered by above-threshold quantities of any of 136 chemicals. The purpose of the standard is to minimize the consequences of a catastrophic release of a toxic, flammable, reactive, or explosive chemical. The importance of this standard is that it requires safety analysis and names certain analytic techniques to use or their equivalent. 

The analysis of stable isotopes using IRMS has broad applications in various scientific disciplines. While a number of these disciplines utilize IRMS as a routine analytical technique, its application in other areas remains in its infancy. This section provides a summary of the applications of IRMS in various scientific fields, with a specific focus on forensic applications, including the analysis of explosives, illicit drugs, and ignitable liquids. 

While IMS and MS are both widely used for explosives analysis, hybrid IM-MS instruments have recently been applied to detect explosives [186]. The lack of HLS-related research with IM-MS systems may be in part due to the availability of commercial IM-MS systems [183,187]. However, this hybrid technique offers a distinct advantage over both IMS and MS alone the ability to simultaneously separate samples by both mobility and mass. This twofold separation mechanism greatly decreases the likelihood of a mass or mobility interfer-ent masking the signal of the analyte of interest. In complex, real-world samples where matrix effects may significantly inhibit the detection of trace amounts of explosive material, the ability to separate in two dimensions (2D) is extremely powerful [188]. Figure 20.16 shows a typical 2D IM-MS plot of black powder with... 

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) or electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis(ESCA), as it is often called, has developed into a powerful analytical technique which has found applications in many branches of physics and chemistry. It provides information about the electronic states and electronic structure in solids, liquids, and gases. In the last twenty five years since its birth, XPS has made fundamental contribution to the understanding of a large variety of phenomena and properties of matter. In the field of explosives and propellants also it has made significant contribution, some of which have been given in the accompanying article [1] while more will be discussed in the present one. 

High-performance liquid chromatography, or HPLC, is an analytical technique capable of detecting specific components in a sample. In forensic science this test is used for drug analysis, toxicology (study of poisons), explosives analysis, ink analysis, fibres and plastics. 

Analysis starts with qualitative presumptive tests that narrow down the list of potential analytes and directs subsequent analysis. P resumptive tests belong to a family of analytical techniques referred to as wet chemical methods. Most are based on observing results when specific reagents are added to small portions of the samples. Color and crystal tests, as they are commonly called, are used in analyzing drugs, gunshot residues, and explosives. These tests will be discussed in detail in subsequent chapters. 

The purpose of this monograph, the first to be dedicated exclusively to the analytics of additives in polymers, is to evaluate critically the extensive problemsolving experience in the polymer industry. Although this book is not intended to be a treatise on modem analytical tools in general or on polymer analysis en large, an outline of the principles and characteristics of relevant instrumental techniques (without hands-on details) was deemed necessary to clarify the current state-of-the-art of the analysis of additives in polymers and to accustom the reader to the unavoidable professional nomenclature. The book, which provides an in-depth overview of additive analysis by focusing on a wide array of applications in R D, production, quality control and technical service, reflects the recent explosive development of the field. Rather than being a compendium, cookery book or laboratory manual for qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of specific additives in a variety of commercial polymers, with no limits to impractical academic exoticism (analysis for its own sake), the book focuses on the fundamental characteristics of the arsenal of techniques utilised industrially in direct relation... 

A first approach to determining explosives on-site might include a combination of specialized sample-collection techniques and subsequent analysis using established IMS technologies or instruments. A second level of development could involve the fabrication of analyzers or analytical systems for an on-site operation and real-time analysis of samples. During the past several years, the first step of development has been demonstrated for explosives in water, in soils, and in a few unique uses. 

Other computer models and analytical tools are used to predict how materials, systems, or personnel respond when exposed to fire conditions. Hazard-specific calculations are more widely used in the petrochemical industry, particularly as they apply to structural analysis and exposures to personnel. Explosion and vapor cloud hazard modeling has been addressed in other CCPS Guidelines (CCPS, 1994). Again, levels of sophistication range from hand calculations using closed-form equations to numerical techniques. 

The analytical methods currently used by this laboratory are chromatography (GC/TEA HPLC/PDME) for explosive residues and the particle analysis method (SEM/EDX) for FDR. The latter method involves the detection and identification of individual FDR particles therefore any sampling technique must be nondestructive. 

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become one of the most important analytical tools employed in the analysis of pharmaceuticals. This can most likely be attributed to the availability of new instrumentation and ionization techniques that can be used to help solve difficult bioanalytical problems associated with this field (1-8). Perhaps the best illustration of this occurrence is the development of electrospray (ESI) and related atmospheric-pressure ionization (API) techniques, ion-spray (nebulizer-assisted API), turbo ionspray (thermally assisted API), and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI nebulization coupled with corona discharge), for use in drug disposition studies. The terms ESI and ionspray tend to be used interchangeably in the literature. For the purpose of this review, the term API will be used to describe both ESI and ionspray. In recent years there has been an unprecedented explosion in the use of instrumentation dedicated to API/MS (4,6,8-14). API-based ionization techniques have now become the method of choice for the analysis of pharmaceuticals and their metabolites. This has made thermospray (TSP), the predominant LC/MS technique during the 1980s, obsolete (15). Numerous reports describing the utility of API/MS for pharmaceutical analysis have appeared in the literature over the last decade (7). The... 

Microfluidic technology for chemical or bioanalytical purposes concerns the precise control of fluids in a limited space, which may be intentionally patterned on chips, because a number of valuable benefits are expected from such systems [1,2]. As many articles and reviews have pointed out, the alleged advantages include reduced reagent consumption, short analysis time, a small-sized scale, low cost, and high sensitivity. Over the last two decades, there has been an explosive development of miniaturized analytical systems and related techniques based on microfluidics for chemical analysis, bioanalysis, clinical diagnostics, and other applications [3-15]. 

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