Liquid explosives nitric acid

L-PHENYLDECANE (104-72-3) C, H Combustible liquid (flashpoint 225°F/107°C cc Fire Rating 1). Incompatible with strong oxidizers (may be explosive), nitric acid bases, amines, amides, inorganic hydroxides diazo compounds. Attacks some plastics, mbber, and coatings. On small fires, use dry chemical powder (such as Purple-K-Powder), foam, or COj extinguishers. DECYLENE (872-05-9) C,oH Flammable liquid. Forms explosive mixture with air (flash point 116°F/47°C Fire Rating 2). Violent reaction with strong oxidizers, bromine, perchlorates, perchromates, pyridiniiun perchlorate, peroxyacetic acid. 

An explosion in a valve in a liquid monomer line was ascribed to traces of oxides of nitrogen remaining after the valve had been passivated by treatment with nitric acid. 

Contact of the neat liquids with uncooled methanol is explosively violent and leads to ignition. For analysis, ampouled samples of dialkylzincs must first be frozen in liquid nitrogen before being broken under methanol-heptane mixtures at — 60°C. See Zinc ethoxide Nitric acid... 

Ammonia or its salts are employed in a variety of ways in many trades. From it nitric acid, the vital necessity for the manufacture of all high explosives, can be made it is an essential for the Brunner Mond or Solvay ammonia soda process for the production of alkali in the liquid form it is employed all over the world in refrigerating machinery, but its enormous and increasing use is in agfriculture, where, in the form of sulphate of ammonia, it constitutes one of, if not the most important chemical manures known to man. During the year 1916 350,000 tons of ammonium sulphate were produced in this country, the larger proportion of which was consumed in agriculture—a proportion likely to increase and not diminish if the demand for home production of food continues. 

The original route from p-xylene was oxidation in the presence of nitric acid. But the use of nitric acid is always problematical. There are corrosion and potential explosion problems, problems of nitrogen contamination of the product, and problems due to the requirement to run the reactions at high temperatures. Just a lot of problems that all led to the development of the liquid air phase oxidation of p-xylene. Ironically the nitrogen contamination problem was the reason that the intermediate DMT route to polyester was developed, since that was easy to purify by distillation. Subsequently, DMT has secured a firm place in the processing scheme. 

Other explosives, discovered in the nineteenth century, were nitroglycerine, a liquid that is absorbed in a solid to make dynamite, and nitrocellulose, a solid that produces less smoke (smokeless powder). They are made by heating glycerine and cellulose with nitric acid, a process that adds nitro (-NO2) groups. Another important explosive is trinitrotoluene, made by heating (very carefully) toluene in nitric acid,... 

The single largest use of ammonia is its direct apphcation as fertdizer, and in the manufacture of ammonium fertilizers that have increased world food production dramatically. Such ammonia-based fertilizers are now the primary source of nitrogen in farm soils. Ammonia also is used in the manufacture of nitric acid, synthetic fibers, plastics, explosives and miscellaneous ammonium salts. Liquid ammonia is used as a solvent for many inorganic reactions in non-aqueous phase. Other apphcations include synthesis of amines and imines as a fluid for supercritical fluid extraction and chromatography and as a reference standard in i N-NMR. 

HOCHjCONHCH CHjOH mw 119.12, crystals, mp 72.5-73.5°. May be prepd by treating methyl glycolate with monoethanolamine A colorless oil was obtained when 2g of the compound were dissolved in 10ml of white nitric acid and then heated at 50-60° for one-half hour and poured oh ice. This oil was not further investigated, but it might have been a liquid explosive, suitable as a plasticizer for NC etc Refs 1) Beil, not found 2) R. Adams C.S. Marvel, OSRD No 86 (1941), pp 12 36-37 3) CA not found thru 1971... 

Late in the nineteenth century, Herman Sprengel patented a series of simple oxidation-reduction mixts for use in commercial blasting. These so-called Sprengel explosives typically consisted of coned nitric acid, or liquid N02, mixed with liq fuels such as nitrobenzene, carbon disulfide, petroleum, etc. They were intended to be mixed immediately before use. Because of handling difficulties Sprengel expls never became very popular (Refs 4 6)... 

Some nitric acid is used for the manufacture of explosives and chemicals, but much is converted on-site to the potentially explosive high nitrogen fertilizer ammonium nitrate (Section 2.11). Ammonia gas from the Haber plant is absorbed in aqueous HN03, and the NH4N03 solution is evaporated to a liquid melt (< 8% H20) for crystallization, but care must be taken to keep the pH of the solution above about 4.5 and to exclude any material (chlorides, organic compounds, metals) that might catalyze the explosive decomposition of NH4N03. It is also wise to keep the melt mass low and to vent it to avoid pressure buildup. The solid product should be stored well away from the main plant. 

The mother liquor and washing waters from precipitation and cleaning carry some lead azide. All the mother liquors and washing waters are therefore collected in a vat, where nitric acid and sodium nitrite are added, and the liquid is stirred for half an hour. After the lead azide has been destroyed, the acid waste waters — which are no longer explosive — are discharged into a sump or the sewerage system. 

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