Tetryl products

Tetryl production was essential to the war effort and a continous plant was set up in 1941 at ROF Pembrey which satisfied the needs for all of the stores. Improvements were effected in the control of particle size by flash graining which in turn enabled a more reproducible exploder pellet to be produced. 

Tetryl was the main explosive used in boosters and detonators (fuses) for shells, as well as blasting caps. Expanded tetryl production was carried out by the DuPont Powder Company and the Bethlehem Loading Company. The government also built a tetryl plant at Senter, Michigan, operated by the Atlas Powder Company. 

Tetiyl. 2,4,6-Trinitrophenylmethylm tramine (tetryl) was used ia pressed form, mostly as a booster explosive and as a base charge ia detonators and blasting caps because of its sensitivity to initiation by primary explosives and its relatively high energy content. Properties are presented ia Table 11 (173). Batch and continuous processes for the production of tetryl have been developed. Tetryl is no longer used ia the United States and has been replaced by RDX (174-178). 

A diagrammatic representation of a continuous process for the production of Tetryl is shown in Fig 18, According to Urbanski (Ref 82, p 58) ... 

The filtered product is then thoroughly washed with water and crystallized from a benz or acet soln. For details see Ref 82, pp 59—61 An alternate, two-stage method of producing Tetryl is used in Germany. In the first stage dinitrome thy laniline is prepd by reacting chloro-dinitrobenzene with methylamine in the presence of Na hydroxide. In the second stage the... 

Phenyl ethyleneglycol Nitrated Products. Nitration of phenylethyleneglycol with mixed nitric-sulfuric acid gave an expl product, mp ca 85°, which was claimed to be 110% as powerful as TNT, as detd by the Trauzl test, and whose performance was intermediate between that of Tetryl and TNT (Ref 1)... 

The two studies, taken together, suggest that tetryl, not TNT, leads to the formation of picrate, since neither the LANL results nor the Holston results showed the formation of picrate in the absence of tetryl. If this is correct, the formation of lead picrate cannot occur when Composition B and M28 propellant are coprocessed, provided no tetryl contamination is present. The solubility of lead picrate in the reaction medium under consideration is not known. Because lead in solution at high pH is predominantly in the form of plumbite ion (HPb02), the concentration of free Pb2+ ions should be very low, and the solubility product of lead picrate would have to be exceedingly small for... 

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). 

These are products extracted out of soil contaminated with TNT, RDX, and TETRYL (Trimtrophcnyl-M-mcthyInitramine). For TNT a decomposition product that had a longer half-life in the soil was 4-amino-dinitrotoluene, so in doing area reduction one should include this product. 

The addition of certain nitroaromatic explosives to basic nonaqueous solutions results in the formation of a strongly colored reaction product, as shown in Figure 13.10. When comparing a set of 13 different explosives, only TNT, TNB, and tetryl formed these visibly colored products at a concentration of 10 mg/L... 

Cook (Ref 1), in describing thermal decomposition of some HE s conducted in the quartz spring apparatus (described in Ref 1, p 175 and shown there in Figs 8.1a 8.1b), stated that PETN, RDX, Tetryl and to a small extent TNT decomposed autocatalyti-cally. EDNA followed the first-order decomposition law only until about 5% of the explosive had decomposed and then the reaction stabilized. The term autostabilization was applied here on the supposition that one of the condensed decomposition products of EDNA which accumulated in the explosive apparently tended to stabilize the bulk of expl and thus slow down the decomposition. After about 10% of the expl had decompd, however, the "autocatalysis developed. 

Fuel Oil Appendix II, pp 379-407 gives details of calculations of products of detonation and tables of detonation-state properties Using a(v) equation of state Cook (Ref 1, p 284, Table 12.1) gives explosion state and other properties for some primary. and near primary explosives, which include MF, LA, HNMnt, NG, EGDN, PETN, RDX and Tetryl. 

A sample calculation was given in Ref 29b for shock waves in air employing the general equation of state (See eq 23) for the expln products and the ideal gas adiabatic eq of state for air. Employing the method of calculation based on the hydrodynamic theory, good agreement was obtd for expls investigated (PETN Tetryl) between calculated and experimentally detd explosive properties... 

If decomposition proceeds at the same rate over entire range until practically no sample remains (like with(AN),it is said that the explosive exhibits (ideal) first-order decomposition, and that no autocatalyzation takes place as in the decompn of.PETN,Tetryl or RDX. EDNA followed the first-order decomposition law only until ca 5% of the expl had decomposed. This was followed by autostabilization, the term applied here on the supposition that one of the condensed decompn products of EDNA which accumulated in the sample apparently tended to stabilize it, thus slowing down the decompn. After ca 10% of the expl had decomposed, however, autocatalysis developed... 

More serious than dermatoses caused by skin contact with Tetryl, TNT, DNT, Hg-Fulminate, solvents etc, during explosives and ammunition production, are exposures to toxic dusts, fumes and vapors. Among these are TNT, DNT, oxides of N, Pb-dusts and vapors, and solvent vapors. Special skin cleansing agents and solns for detecting these harmful materials on the skin are discussed in Ref 1... 

Examination of nitration acids 167—191 — Examination of finished products propellants, secondary expls and primary expls 192 — Examination of individual expls solid TNT, liquid TNT, Hexogen (RDX), Hexotol (Cyclotol), Hexotonal (RDX/TNT/A1, Torpex), Penthrite (PETN), Bofors Plastic Explosive (BPE), Bonocord, Tetryl, Lead Azide, Lead Styphnate, Mercury Fulminate, Silver Azide and Tetracene]... 

This rearrangement, which is of great importance for the manufacture of tetryl, will be illustrated when the production of this substance is discussed. 

The substance possesses quite uncommon and valuable explosive properties. It is more powerful than tetryl, and considerably less sensitive to impact (as sensitive as picric acid). However, its acidic properties limit its use to a great extent. In this respect it resembles picric acid. Even so ethylenedinitramine, under the name of Haleite, has been accepted in the United States as a military explosive. During World War II, production in that country was carried out by the method outlined above according to eqn. (17)... 

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