Nitroglycerine commercial explosives

Ammonium nitrate is the cheapest source of oxygen available for commercial explosives at the present time. It is used by itself in conjunction with fuels, or to give more sensitive explosives in admixture with solid fuels and sensitisers such as nitroglycerine and TNT. It is, therefore, a compound of particular importance for the explosives industry. 

The preparation and properties of TNT are described in Chapter 3. Next to nitroglycerine, TNT is the most important sensitising constituent of commercial explosives. For such purposes it does not need to have the high purity demanded for the military product, but otherwise the material is identical. 

Before nitrates and particularly ammonium nitrate were readily available commercially, explosives were developed based on chlorates and perchlorates. These also are still used in some countries. In general perchlorates are considered less dangerous than chlorates and therefore preferred. They are easily sensitised, so that in addition to explosives of this type based on nitroglycerine, others have been based on various organic liquids, particularly nitrobodies. History shows that chlorates and perchlorates must be regarded as temperamental substances, liable in bulk to lead to inexplicable accidents. Particularly when mixtures of chlorates and oxidising materials are allowed to become wet and then dry out, conditions can arise in which there is an appreciable sensitiveness to friction and impact. Explosives of this type have an unfortunate record of accidents. They are used, therefore, to a limited extent only, now that safer compositions are available. 

It is possible to quantify individual nitroaromatic compounds present in commercial nitroglycerine-based explosives without prior separation, by using 500 MHz NMR. Patterns within the quantitative data provide a good degree of sample batch characterization447. 

Nitrate Ester Plasticizers As discussed in Section 2.2.4 of Chapter 2, nitroglycerine (NG) is a high performance nitrate ester and is considered the first energetic plasticizer for commercial explosives. 

Nitroglycerine is a very powerful secondary explosive with a high brisance, i.e. shattering effect, and it is one of the most important and frequently-used components for gelatinous commercial explosives. Nitroglycerine also provides a source of high energy in propellant compositions, and in combination with nitrocellulose and stabilizers it is the principal component of explosive powders and solid rocket propellants. 

TNT is by far the most important explosive for blasting charges. It is widely used in commercial explosives and is much safer to produce and handle than nitroglycerine and picric acid. A lower grade of TNT can be used for commercial explosives, whereas the military grade is very pure. 

Nitrocellulose can be quite hazardous if left to dry out completely therefore, it is usually stored and transported in 30% water or ethanol. Nitrocellulose is often dissolved in solvents to form a gel. For example, commercial explosives used for blasting purposes contain nitrocellulose dissolved in nitroglycerine, and some gun propellant compositions contain nitrocellulose dissolved in a mixture of acetone and water. 

Swedish Commercial Explosives of Nonper mrssible Type, With the exception of the book on Nitroglycerin and Dynamite (See Ref 55b), we do not have knowledge of any recent Swedish books, and therefore, our info about current Swed expls is rather limited... 

This product is one of the strongest commercial explosives. It consists of 92-94% nitroglycerine, gelatinized with 6-8% soluble guncotton. 

Dynamite was the first trade name introduced for a commercial explosive by Alfred Nobel it was nitroglycerine absorbed in kieselguhr (Guhr dynamite). Bonding of nitroglycerine by gelatinization with nitrocellulose was discovered by Nobel at a later date. 

Nitroglycerine, which is still of primary importance in commercial explosives, smokeless powders and rocket propellants ... 

Only dynamites with an active base are manufactured in the U. S. Dynamites containing nitroglycerine or explosive oil, and inactive or active base are called Straight Dynamites. Commercial Straight Dynamites contain 15-60 per cent nitroglycerine or explosive oil. Example of composition for a 40 per cent Straight Dynamite ... 

TNT is widely used in commercial explosives and is much safer to produce and handle than nitroglycerine and picric acid. 

---