Tetrytols

Tetryl Tetrytols Teuber reaction Teutsch route Tevdek II... 

Exposure of moist expls (0.5% moisture) with common metals at 50° for two years (two months at 71° and 100% relative humidity for phosphate coated steel) resulted in from very slight to very heavy corrosion for practically all of the metals shown in the above table. Stainless steel was unaffected by any expl, acid proof black painted steel was not affected by 75/25 Tetrytol and 50/50 Pentolite, and Mg-Al alloy (Jl) was unaffected by BkPdr. Phosphate coated steel exhibited considerable corrosion with BkPdr, but was unaffected by TNT, RDX, Comp B, Tetryl or 50/50 Pentolite (Ref 3)... 

Azide Powder Styphnate B PETN RDX Tetryl TNT Amatol H alette Tetrytol Ednatol Pentolite... 

PTX-1. An expl developed at PicArsn during WWII for use in land mines and demolition charges. It contained Tetryl 50, RDX 30 and TNT 20% mw 252 OB to CO -9%, to C02 —45% mp, eutectic 67°, pouring temp 90—95° d (cast) 1.68g/cc exudes at 65° and above sol in acet. Prepd by adding the appropriate wt of w-wet RDX to 40/60 Tetrytol previously melted in a steam-jacketed melt kettle. Heating and stirring are continued until all the w is evapd and the mixt is uniform in compn. It can also be prepd by adding Tetryl to Composition B Blast. Relative to TNT in air impulse 109%,... 

Ref 1 states that PVA-4 has sensitivity and stability characteristics considered satisfactory for a demolition expl, and has greater brisance than Composition A or Tetrytol. It undergoes... 

These mixts were later used in the USA and other countries (See under Tetrytol)... 

UV detectors, ECD, and TEA have been used with HPLC to analyze explosives The UV detector was the first to be used with HPLC and is still the most popular some explosives can be detected in the nanogram range with the UV detector, including TNT, RDX, tetryl, PETN, tetrytol, nitroglycerine, EGDN, and HMX... 

Tetrytol contains 70 percent tetryl and 30 percent TNT. Composition B contains 60 percent RDX, 39 percent TNT, and 1 percent wax. 

The fate of lead during energetics hydrolysis in the presence of picrate is not understood. Until more information becomes available on the speciation of lead and the solubility of lead picrate under the conditions of hydrolysis, the possibility of solid lead picrate formation cannot be dismissed. As a precautionary measure, lead-based propellants should be processed separately from tetryl and tetrytol, eliminating the possibility of lead picrate formation. 

The experiments were carried out in a 2-L Parr reactor fitted with an internal cooling coil to cool the reaction mixture if necessary and to prevent runaway reactions. The temperature was controlled by a proportional-integral-differential (PID) controller. All experiments started at ambient temperature, which was raised to the desired reaction temperature, 93°C, in a nearly linear ramp over about 15 minutes for the propellants or 25 and 35 minutes for Composition B-4 and tetrytol, respectively. 

The Composition B-4 was provided to LANL in the form of large flakes and was used as received. The tetrytol was in large to medium-size chunks. The Ml propellant and the M28 propellant were provided and used as small grains. The M8 propellant was provided in stacks of three sheets weighing 30-35 g each and sewn together with cotton thread. The sheets were not separated before being manually fed into the reactor. 

The presence of cyanide in the hydrolysate does raise some concern. The levels of cyanide in the end-of-run analyses ranged from 29 mg/L (Ml propellant, 11.3 percent caustic) to 705 mg/L (tetrytol, 26 percent caustic). While the solution is alkaline, the cyanide will remain in solution as aqueous cyanide ion. However, if the solution were made neutral or acidic, which would reduce the hazards associated with handling caustic solutions, the cyanide would be converted to hydro-... 

In the LANL experiments, all of the energetic material was introduced into the vessel at the beginning of the run, when the caustic was still at ambient temperature in the HAAP runs, the caustic was heated to the reaction temperature before the energetic feed was introduced. Therefore, the rate of destruction from the LANL data is not comparable to that from the HAAP data. It appears that the evolution of gas commenced at about 65-70°C for both Composition B-4 in 20 percent caustic and tetrytol in 12 percent caustic. No temperature data were presented for Composition B-4 in 15 percent caustic, and tetrytol appeared to begin generating gas at a somewhat higher temperature ( 80°C) in 20 percent caustic. 

The evolution of gas from the propellants began at a somewhat higher temperature than for Composition B-4 and tetrytol. The first observation of N20 did not occur for Ml propellant until the reaction temperature reached about 90°C. The other propellants began evolving gas at around 80°C. 

It has been shown that picrate ion is formed during the hydrolysis of tetrytol. As shown in Table 2-5, picrate was observed in the midrun analyses for all the hydrolysis runs of tetrytol and in the midrun analyses for the mixed M28/Composition B-4 run. For two of the three tetrytol runs, there was a low level of picrate... 

The results from the work done at LANL (see below) failed to find any picrate in the hydrolysates from either Composition B-4 or tetrytol. However, because the detection limit for the method used was not reported, it is not possible to determine whether or not the LANL results are consistent with those reported in the Holston study (Bonnett and Elmasri, 2001). 

Recommendation (Blue Grass) EH-1. Tetrytol should not be processed simultaneously with any lead-containing energetic material until such time as it can be confirmed that lead picrate will not precipitate from the hydrolysate. The solubility of lead picrate in the reaction medium should be determined as a function of temperature, and the lead in the reaction should be accounted for in a mass balance. 

Slurries of energetic materials from two sources are treated in the SILVER II process the explosive in the rocket and projectile burster tubes (which may be either Composition B or tetrytol) and the ground-up M28 propellant grain in the rocket motors. 

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