Oxygen Balance OB

More generally, the oxygen balance (OB) of a substance CxHyOzHj is expressed by Equation (2-6), when the nitrogen is assumed to evolve as N2 ... 

The oxygen balance of any specified mixture of oxidizers can be obtained by assuming the nature of the oxidized products. Table 2.6 shows the oxygen balances [OB] and densities p of some energetic materials. 

We now know that the relative amount of oxygen in an explosive is quite important. When an explosive is exactly oxygen balanced, neither rich nor lean, it produces the maximum energy output per unit weight of that explosive. The relative amount of oxygen with respect to the oxygen required to oxidize the fuel completely in an explosive (or propellant) is expressed quantitatively as oxygen balance (OB). 

Oxygen balance (OB) can be calculated from the molecular structure (or the relationships between combustible materials and oxidants, in a mixture) by [31]... 

The oxygen balance (OB) is a measure of the amount of oxygen in a C-H—N-0 expl required to oxidize the expln products. The OB may be reported either on the basis of oxidation to carbon monoxide or to the dioxide (Ref 23). 

The detonation of an explosive is an oxidation reaction in which it may be assumed that all the carbon forms CO2, all the hydrogen forms H2O, and all the nitrogen forms N2. On this basis, an explosive with the composition CxHvOzNd will have an oxygen balance (OB) of... 

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