Bruceton

Nitroisobutylglycol dinitrate). CH3.C.N02(CH20N02)2, mw 225.14, N 18.67%, OB to C02 —24.87%, mp 38°, ignites above 240°. Prepd from the glycol by nitration with mixed acid, with 90% yield. Brisance, crushes 53g sand, equivalent to Tetryl. Qc is 531.4cal/mole. Impact sensitivity, FI 86% relative to PA, with Bruceton No 5 machine,... 

Tiffany, Physical Testing of Explosives at the Bureau of Mines Explosives Experiment Station, Bruceton, Pa , US Bureau of Mines Bull 346 (1931), 60-63 126-133... 

Notes 1) Nitration with mixed nitric-sulfuric acid gives a less satisfactory product and a lower yield (about 52%). 2) Attempts to prepare the product starting with 2-nitro-2-(m-nitrophenyl)-propanediol-1,3 or its dinitrate were unsuccessful Its expl props were detd by R. McGill et al at the NDRC Res Lab at Bruceton, Pa and were found to be as follows ... 

Explosive Properties. Qf —147kcal/mole Qe 1582cal/g impact sensy on PA app is 5cm (NG 10cm), on Bruceton app 2.3cm (NG 10cm)... 

Hygroscopicity. Gains 0.02% at 100% RH Power. 142% TNT by BalMort Sensitivity. Impact, with Bruceton No 3 machine, 50% positive with 5kg wt at 24cm Stability. Deflagrates at 230° thermal - not acid in 300 mins at 100°, acid in 105 mins at ... 

A large program of work on coal liquefaction at the U.S. Bureau of Mines station at Bruceton, Pa., under the direction of H. H. Storch, was stimulated by the pre-war and wartime developments in Germany (49,50,51,52,53). The very extensive studies showed that, with some modification of processing conditions, most U.S. coals could be converted to liquid fuels in acceptable yields... 

Synthane A coal gasification process using steam and oxygen in a fluidized bed. An unusual feature is the large volume of hot gas recycled. Developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines from 1961. A pilot plant, designed by the C. E. Lummus Company, was built at Bruceton, PA, in 1976. 

Synthoil A coal liquifaction process in which coal, suspended in oil from the process, is hydrogenated over a cobalt/molybdenum catalyst on alumina. The process was piloted by the Pittsburgh Energy Research Center at Bruceton, PA in the 1970s using several types of coal, but it was abandoned in 1978. See also CSF, H-Coal. 

With the onset of World War II, Hammett took a leave of absence from Columbia to become first associate director and later director of the National Defense Research Committee s Explosives Research Laboratory in Bruceton, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. During his tenure, the laboratory made a number of important inventions that contributed to the success of the war effort. After the war, Hammett returned to Columbia, where he remained until his retirement in 1961. He spent the last 25 years of his life in the Quaker retirement community of Medford Leas, New Jersey, where he died on February 9,1987. 

Since the earliest days of coal liquefaction processing and research, the need for correlations of coal properties with coal reactivity under direct hydroliquefaction conditions has been recognized by coal scientists. This article traces the history of reactivity correlations from the earliest work of Bergius through the classic work at the Bruceton Bureau of Mines during the 1940 s to the most recent advances in this subject. Particular emphasis in this review is placed on an examination of the contributions of Professor Peter Given and his co-workers. Reactivity methodologies and techniques for correlation are presented and critically evaluated for utility and applicability as predictive tools. 

Galleries for Testing Permissible Explosives. Several refs are given in Vol 1, p XIV. European galleries and US galleries at Bruceton,... 

B) Drop Weight Impact Test used at LASL is a modified version of machine developed by E.H. Eyster R.F. Davis at the Explosives Research Laboratory, Bruceton, Pa and described in OSRD 5744(1945). The apparatus is known as "ERL Machine . 

Detonation velocities calculated for densities of 0.73-1.80 are compared with those determined at Bruceton. Values calculated for TNT from the LSZK equation of state at densities of 1.00-1.625 are given for the following detonation parameters ... 

About 1943, a simplified method for ealen of deton velocities of solid organic expls was developed at the Explosives Research.Laboratory (ERL), Bruceton, Pennsylvania. As there was no report issued at that time but just an unpublished letter of E.M. Boggs F.J. Martin addressed to Brinkley, a brief description of the method was given by him in Ref 39, p 87 In the ERL method, the general equation of state (See our eq 23), with a single covolume constant per unit mass of gaseous expln product, was used and the decompn scheme which leads to quantitative formation of water,... 

T.W. Anderson et al, NAVORD Rept 65-46 (1946) described seven varieties of staircase method including the Bruceton test. Natrella (Ref 42a) also gives several References to other discussions of the up-and-down or staircase method of testing... 

The Bruceton test affords a fairly good estimate of the 10, 50 and 90% firing points for minimum trials, but depends heavily on the assumption that the sample sensitivity follows a normal distribution about the median firing height... 

The firing pin and the plastic holder are discarded after firing. The test procedure may follow in firing either the Bruceton or the Frankford method... 

Bruceton, Pa , USBurMines, Bulletin 346, GovtPtgOff, Washington, DC(1931), pp 108-15 (Testing Detonators and Electric Detonators by Sand Test and Nail Test) ... 

N. E. Hanna et al, US Bur Mines RJ No 5463 (1959) CA 53, 14517 (1959). The effect of 0, 3.6, 6.6 9.5% NaCl on the incendivity of permissible explosives was studied by the Bruceton up-and-down technique in gallery tests. The study showed that the addn of relatively small quantities of NaCl tends to reduce but does not eliminate ig-... 

The Bruceton test (as expected) gives a good value of the mean drop height, ie 50%... 

The Bruceton method is also frequently used in other destructive tests, eg in functioning tests of detonators, gap tests for shock sensitivity, or in tests where the test alters a sample so that it is no longer in its original state... 

A 40mg sample is placed on a brass cap which is inverted over the anvil. The falling weight is normally 5kg. If the volume of gas evolved by a 0.03mg sample is more than 1ml, then the test is considered a go. The Bruceton method is used and results are reported as Figure of Insensitiveness or FI which is ob-... 

Addnl Refs A) E. Burlot, MAF 14, 303 (1935) (Exudation test) B) Explosives Research Laboratory, Bruceton, Pennsylvania, "Interim Report on the Preparation and Testing of Explosives", Division 8,... 

ERL impact apparatus, type 12 This test was developed by the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center and is optional for use. The machine (Bruceton Machine) Type 12 consists of a striker pin (made of hardened tool steel, ground and polished) with surface in contact... 

Synthetic Fuels Research Branch, Fuels Technology Division, Bureau of Mines, Bruceton, Pa. 

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