Booster explosive

Tetiyl. 2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylm tramine (tetryl) was used ia pressed form, mostly as a booster explosive and as a base charge ia detonators and blasting caps because of its sensitivity to initiation by primary explosives and its relatively high energy content. Properties are presented ia Table 11 (173). Batch and continuous processes for the production of tetryl have been developed. Tetryl is no longer used ia the United States and has been replaced by RDX (174-178). 

Hexanitrostilbene or HNS (C14H6N6012) is a heat-resistant yellow crystalline solid explosive. HNS is also resistant to radiation, insensitive to electric sparks, and less sensitive to impact than tetryl. It is used in heat-resistant booster explosives and has been used in stage separations in space rockets and for seismic experiments on the moon. Its melting temperature is 316 °C.12... 

Booster Explosives to which may be assigned F A (powdered), Tetryl, RDX, PETN... 

ESPLOSIVI DA GUERRA o ESPLOSIVI MILITARI. To these belong Esplosivi innes-canti o primari (Initiating or Priming Explosives) Esplosivi di lancio o Propellenti (Propellants) Esplosivi di rinforzo (Booster Explosives) and Esplosivi di scoppio (Bursting Explosives). They are described separately below... 

In other words, the initiator, also called primary explosive, is initiated by a small energy input and its explosive output initiates the booster, which in turn, initiates the main charge that is, HE filling. The booster is sufficiently insensitive yet capable of initiation by the initiator. Booster explosives are limited in number (Tetryl and PETN) and their explosive properties are in between initiators and main charges. 

Nonanitroterphenyl (NONA) [Structure (2.38)] is produced by the condensation of 2 moles of picryl chloride with l,3-dichloro-2,4,6-trinitroben-zene (styphnyl chloride)in the presence of copper dust at 210°C using nitrobenzene as a medium (Ullmann s Condensation) [90]. It has a density of 1.78 g cm and exceptional heat stability, melting at 440-450 °C with decomposition which together with a low volume of split-off gases render it as an interesting explosive for booster explosives in space technology [91]. 

HNS is used in heat-resistant booster explosives and has been used in the stage separation in space rockets and for seismic experiments on the moon. 

Lead azide is not used in primers where it is desired to produce fire or flame from impact. Fulminate mixtures and certain mixtures which contain no fulminate are preferred for this purpose. Lead azide is used where it is desired to produce, either from flame or from impact, an initiatory shock for the detonation of a high explosive—in compound detonators as already described, and in the detonators of artillery fuzes. For the latter purpose, caps containing azide and tctryl (or other booster explosive) are... 

Vlmsec 3.5xl014 B. Booster explosives 1.6xl015 l.SxlO7 Sample detonated ... 

Fig 6 Weight Loss of Primary and Booster Explosives as a Function of Reactor Irradiation (Ref 192)... 

PETN [pentaerythritol tetranitrate, C(CH20N02)4] is an extremely sensitive high explosive. When used as a booster explosive, a bursting charge, or a plastic demolition charge, it is desensitized by mixture with trinitrotoluene or by the addition of wax. 

Tetryl is a high explosive with intermediate sensitivity and is used as a base charge in blasting caps, as the booster explosive in high-explosive shells, and as an ingredient of binary explosives. 

Quite a number of other high explosives were introduced during this period nitro derivatives of aniline, anisole, diphenylamine, cresols, xylenols, etc. Some of these were used as bursting charges and some as boosters, the outstanding representative of the booster explosives being trinitrophenylmethyinitramine (Tetryl). 

Satisfactory as a booster explosive for this purpose it is superior to TNT but somewhat inferior to Tetryl. Hexil is extremely stable and safer to handle than Tetryl.12 Toxic. 

Uses In reinforced detonators. Standard booster explosive for high-explosive shells. It is the base for the service Tetryl caps which are necessary for positive detonation of TNT. A mixture of fulminate of mercury and potassium chlorate is included in the cap to insure detonation of Tetryl. 

DOT CLASSIFICATION EXPLOSIVE LID Label EXPLOSIVE LID SAFETY PROFILE Questionable carcinogen with experimental neoplastigenic data. Mutation data reported. A powerful and violent explosive used as a booster explosive its use is superior to TNT. It is not as good for this purpose as tetryl, but is extremely stable and much safer to handle. See also NITRO COMPOUNDS of AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS. 

Between the extremes lie the more sensitive secondary explosives which are often used in an intermediate role to initiate detonation in less-sensitive substances and are then known as booster explosives. Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine (tetryl) is such a substance, but among all classes of explosives a good deal of "pharmacy" is involved in the formulation of compositions with the desired balance of properties. 

Primary explosives were among 32 substances which Avrami and Voreck [62] subjected to total doses ranging up to 5.0 X 10 n/cm fast neutrons, 3.1 X lO n/cm thermal neutrons, and 4.3 X lO R gamma. The primary explosives were 1.8-g samples ofKDNBF (potassium dinitrobenzofuroxan), silver tetracene, and lead styphnate. The exposures and effects on some of the tests are listed in Table XI. Included are the results for tetryl, a booster explosive. 

Lead styphnate detonated within 2 min, and a runaway reaction occurred with tetryl after 2 hr. The weight loss of the primary and booster explosives due to the reactor irradiation is shown in Figure 13. 

Figure 13. Weiglit loss of primary and booster explosives as a function of reactor irradiation [62].

PETN is a powerful explosive with a high detonation rate. It is an excellent booster explosive and is the filling used in most detonation cord. 

Secondary explosives, which include TNT, cyclo-l,3,5-trimethylene-2,4,6-trinitramine (RDX or cyclonite), High Melting Explosives (HMX), and tetryl, are much more prevalent at military sites than are primary explosives. Since they are formulated to detonate only under specific circumstances, secondary explosives often are used as main charge or boostering explosives. 

A booster explosive used as the explosive core of some varieties of detonating cord. A detonator in some German and Italian ordnance. In the United States, primarily as a component of explosive mixtures. May be used pure in Soviet detonators. 

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