Nitrocellulose nitroglycerin systems

The water may be removed from the nitrocellulose-nitroglycerine paste by centrifuging. The system described is primitive and virtually obsolete, but it is quite adequate for the manufacture of ballistite and is therefore still in use. A more modern system, giving a uniform paste with more evenly incorporated nitroglycerine is based upon the use of an aqueous emulsion of nitroglycerine (see Fig. 268). 

Military. The single-component explosives most commonly used for military compositions are TNT, RDX or HMX, nitrocellulose, and nitroglycerin. The last two are used almost exclusively to make propellants. The production volume of TNT far exceeds that of any other explosive. It is used as manufactured, as a base of biaary slurries with other high melting explosives, or ia ternary systems generally containing a biaary mix and aluminum. 

The tests with the 12-kW system in Demo II successfully confirmed that this technology is capable of destroying the components (nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine) of M28 propellant. For tetrytol, the destruction of TNT and tetryl was good. However, recalcitrant intermediate products were formed during the treatment of tetrytol, which AEA was still evaluating at the time the Demo II report was prepared (NRC, 2001b). 

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