Nitrate esters decomposition

While complex nitrate esters, such as nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, were the first to find application as explosives, understanding the mechanisms of nitrate ester decomposition was accomplished through the study of simpler compounds [11-16]. Ethanol nitrate was examhed by numerous researchers, and they conceded the first, and rate-determining, step was reversible loss of... 

The following Add ft Pjsfs are of limited distribution 1) G.A. Yanyecic, Decomposition Characteristics of Nitrate Ester Monopropellants , Rept No TM-705. 9161-03, Contract NOW-65-0123, Penn State Univ, Univ Park (1968) 2) R.K. Lund, Encapsulated Liquid... 

Some explosives are not volatile enough to be analyzed via GC the relatively high temperatures required can cause decomposition of some explosives (e.g., nitrate esters, nitramines) excessive contamination often present in hand swabs from postexplosion debris can interfere with optimum performance of some detectors... 

An extremely mild method for the synthesis of nitrate esters from easily oxidized or acid-sensitive alcohols involves the decomposition of a nitratocarbonate (29). The nitratocar-bonate is prepared in situ from metathesis between a chloroformate (reaction between phosgene and an alcohol) and silver nitrate in acetonitrile in the presence of pyridine at room temperature. Under these conditions the nitratocarbonate readily decomposes to yield the corresponding nitrate ester and carbon dioxide. Few examples of these reactions are available in the literature and they are limited to a laboratory scale. 

Extensive experimental and theoretical studies have been performed in an effort to determine the decomposition and combustion processes of nitrate esters. This... 

The simplest nitrate ester is methyl nitrate, which has the chemical structure CH3ONO2. The decomposition process is given byT l... 

As is evident from experimental measurements, most kinds of nitrate esters appear to decompose to NOj and C,H,0 species with the breaking of the O-NOj bond as the initial step. A strong heat release occurs in the gas phase near the decomposing surface due to the reduction of NO2 to NO accompanied by the oxidation of C,H,0 species to HjO, CO, and COj. NO reduction, however, is slow and this reaction is not observed in the decomposition of some nitrate ester systems. Even when the reaction occurs, the heat release does not contribute to the heat feedback to the surface because the reaction occurs at a distance far from the surface. 

The decomposition process can be essentially divided into three stages for simple nitrate esters ... 

From the discussion in the previous section, it is clear that, above all, NO2, and then NO, are the principal oxidizers produced in the flames of nitrate esters. The reaction of NO2 with aldehydes plays an important role in the combustion of nitrate esters, since these molecules are the major decomposition products of these materials in the first stage of combustion. Pollard and Wyatt studied the combustion process of HCHO/NO2 mixtures at sub-atmospheric pressures.They found that the reaction occurs very rapidly at temperatures above 433 K, the NO2 being reduced almost quantitatively to NO, and the aldehyde being oxidized to CO, COj, and H2O. The order of reaction was found to be one with respect to both reactants. The same result has been reported by McDowell and Thomas.I ] jgg proposed reaction steps are ... 

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