Water gel explosive

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Tovex, a form of water gel explosive. FredricRiceTovex.jpg
Tovex, a form of water gel explosive.

A water-gel explosive is a fuel sensitized explosive mixture consisting of an aqueous ammonium nitrate solution that acts as the oxidizer. [1] Water gels that are cap-insensitive are referred to under United States safety regulations as blasting agents. Water gel explosives have a jelly-like consistency and come in sausage-like packing stapled shut on both sides. [2]

Contents

Water-gel explosives have almost completely displaced dynamite,[ citation needed ] becoming the most-used civil blasting agents.

Composition

Water gels usually have many different ingredients. They contain a gelatinizing agent, also known as a thickener, that modifies their consistency, ranging from easily pourable gels to hard solids. Polyvinyl alcohol, guar gum, dextran gums, and urea-formaldehyde resins are the typical gelling agents. Guar, specifically, is a gelling agent used for the aqueous portion of the water gel explosives. [3] The primary component of water gels is methylamine nitrate. Methylamine nitrate is the salt formed by the neutralization of methylamine with nitric acid. [4] Water gel explosives are also made of ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate, aluminum, ethylene glycol and TNT. The proportions of these components vary depending on the desired explosiveness of the water gel. [5]

Preparation

Water gel explosives are produced by combining nitroparaffins, usually nitromethane, with an aqueous salt solution and a gelling agent. These nitroparaffins typically make up most of the water gel explosive. Different types of gelling agents are used to create the water gel explosive. One agent is insoluble in water, but able to gel with nitromethane. The gel used for nitromethane is cyanoethylether, a derivative of galactomannan gum. Other agents are water-soluble and are used for the aqueous salt solution. As referenced in the first paragraph, water-soluble gums and gel modifiers like guar can be used for the gelling of aqueous solutions. When the salt solution and nitroparaffin are gelled, the entire mixture is combined and mixed together until the desired consistency is achieved. One characteristic that allows the explosive to work so well is the insoluble nature of the nitroparaffin. The effectiveness of the water gels is dependent on the dissemination of salts in the salt solution. The particles need to be very small and fine so that they can be dispersed well throughout the solution. Some salts that are commonly used include: ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium perchlorate and potassium chlorate. The sensitivity of the explosive must be increased in order to improve the initiation of the detonation of the explosive. There are different techniques for increasing the sensitivity. Aluminum or other powdered metals can help increase the sensitivity of the water gel, but increasing the sensitivity also means that the explosives are more combustible. [6] Powdered metals have not proven to be completely effective in increasing the sensitivity of the explosive because they do not uniformly mix through the solution. They also lose sensitivity as storage time increases. Liquid non-self-explosive sensitizers like nitrobenzene and liquid nitrotoluene have not worked well either because they are difficult to hold in suspension. Liquid aliphatic mononitrates have been found to work very effectively as sensitizers when they are well mixed in the water gel. [7]

Advantages and uses

Water gel explosives tend to be less toxic and are less hazardous than dynamite to manufacture, transport, and store. [8] Water gels are also less expensive than conventional explosives. Because they are relatively safe and easy to use, they are often used in the mining industry. [9] There are many different types of water gel explosives for use in different situations. One type, a small diameter slurry explosive, can be used specifically for blasting in coal undercut, midcut, and depillaring areas. They are preferable to nitroglycerin-based explosives like dynamite because they produce less noxious fumes. [10] Detagel, which is very high in strength, is a specific example of a small diameter water gel explosive that is used for mining activities.[ citation needed ]

Water gel explosives are frequently used as cartridge explosives because they are much easier to load into large casings. With water gel explosives, the slurry material can simply be poured into the casing. Traditional explosives are cast into the casing. This process is laborious and the charge may begin to shrink, creating multiple voids.[ citation needed ] A final advantage of slurry is that it can be stored in non-explosive component form and sensitized into field-manufactured explosive as it is needed. The explosive may be sensitized by the addition of gas, metal powder, or another explosive such as TNT, RDX, HMX, or PETN. The water in water gel explosives is converted into a reactant by the addition of large amounts of aluminum.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dynamite</span> Explosive made using nitroglycerin

Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents, and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Explosive</span> Substance that can explode

An explosive is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may either be composed solely of one ingredient or be a mixture containing at least two substances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guar</span> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

The guar or cluster bean, with the botanical name Cyamopsis tetragonoloba, is an annual legume and the source of guar gum. It is also known as gavar, gawar, or guvar bean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guar gum</span> Vegetable gum from the guar bean, Cyamopsis tetragonoloba

Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans that has thickening and stabilizing properties useful in food, feed, and industrial applications. The guar seeds are mechanically dehusked, hydrated, milled and screened according to application. It is typically produced as a free-flowing, off-white powder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammonium nitrate</span> Chemical compound with formula NH4NO3

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NH4NO3. It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is predominantly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ANFO</span> Explosive

ANFO ( AN-foh) (or AN/FO, for ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) is a widely used bulk industrial explosive. It consists of 94% porous prilled ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) (AN), which acts as the oxidizing agent and absorbent for the fuel, and 6% number 2 fuel oil (FO). The use of ANFO originated in the 1950s.

Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH
3NO
2. It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in extractions, as a reaction medium, and as a cleaning solvent. As an intermediate in organic synthesis, it is used widely in the manufacture of pesticides, explosives, fibers, and coatings. Nitromethane is used as a fuel additive in various motorsports and hobbies, e.g. Top Fuel drag racing and miniature internal combustion engines in radio control, control line and free flight model aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copper(II) nitrate</span> Chemical compound

Copper(II) nitrate describes any member of the family of inorganic compounds with the formula Cu(NO3)2(H2O)x. The hydrates are blue solids. Anhydrous copper nitrate forms blue-green crystals and sublimes in a vacuum at 150-200 °C. Common hydrates are the hemipentahydrate and trihydrate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ammonium sulfate</span> Chemical compound

Ammonium sulfate (American English and international scientific usage; ammonium sulphate in British English); (NH4)2SO4, is an inorganic salt with a number of commercial uses. The most common use is as a soil fertilizer. It contains 21% nitrogen and 24% sulfur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thickening agent</span> Increases the viscosity of a liquid without altering its other properties

A thickening agent or thickener is a substance which can increase the viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and puddings without altering their taste; thickeners are also used in paints, inks, explosives, and cosmetics.

PLX, abbreviation of Picatinny Liquid Explosive, is a liquid binary explosive. It is a mixture of 95% nitromethane (NM) along with 5% ethylene diamine (EDA) as a sensitizer. Other amine compounds can be used instead of ethylene diamine, such as triethylene tetramine, diethylenetriamine or ethanolamine, but EDA has been found to be the most effective amine additive. PLX is a fairly powerful high explosive, marginally exceeding the destructive yield of TNT.

A pyrotechnic composition is a substance or mixture of substances designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas/smoke or a combination of these, as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic chemical reactions. Pyrotechnic substances do not rely on oxygen from external sources to sustain the reaction.

Melvin Alonzo Cook was an American chemist, most known from his work in explosives, including the development of shaped charges and slurry explosives. Cook was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Photographic emulsion is a light-sensitive colloid used in film-based photography. Most commonly, in silver-gelatin photography, it consists of silver halide crystals dispersed in gelatin. The emulsion is usually coated onto a substrate of glass, films, paper, or fabric. The substrate is often flexible and known as a film base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tovex</span> Water-gel explosive

Tovex is a water-gel explosive composed of ammonium nitrate and methylammonium nitrate that has several advantages over traditional dynamite, including lower toxicity and safer manufacture, transport, and storage. It has thus almost entirely replaced dynamite. There are numerous versions ranging from shearing charges to aluminized common blasting agents. Tovex is used by 80% of international oil companies for seismic exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride</span> Chemical compound

Guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride is an organic compound that is a water-soluble quaternary ammonium derivative of guar gum. It gives conditioning properties to shampoos and after-shampoo hair care products. The effects of the cationic charge density, guar concentration in aqueous solution, and treatment time on bleached European hair have been studied. A mechanical testing method has been successfully applied to determine the efficacy of cationic guars to improve the ease of combing. The results were confirmed in a shampoo formulation on both virgin and bleached hair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urea nitrate</span> Chemical compound

Urea nitrate is a fertilizer-based high explosive that has been used in improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and various terrorist acts elsewhere in the world such as in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. It has a destructive power similar to better-known ammonium nitrate explosives, with a velocity of detonation between 3,400 m/s (11,155 ft/s) and 4,700 m/s (15,420 ft/s). It has chemical formula of CH5N3O4 or (NH2)2COHNO3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methylammonium nitrate</span> Chemical compound

Methylammonium nitrate is an explosive chemical with the molecular formula CH6N2O3, alternately CH3NH3+NO3−. It is the salt formed by the neutralization of methylamine with nitric acid. This substance is also known as methylamine nitrate and monomethylamine nitrate, not to be confused with methyl nitramine or monomethyl nitramine.

Explosive materials are produced in numerous physical forms for their use in mining, engineering, or military applications. The different physical forms and fabrication methods are grouped together in several use forms of explosives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickel hydrazine nitrate</span> Chemical compound

Nickel hydrazine nitrate (NHN), (chemical formula: [Ni(N2H4)3](NO3)2 is an energetic material having explosive properties in between that of primary explosive and a secondary explosive. It is a salt of a coordination compound of nickel with a reaction equation of 3N2H4·H2O + Ni(NO3)2 →〔Ni(N2H4)3〕(NO3)2 ＋ 3H2O

References

  1. ↑ Cook, Melvin A. The Science of Industrial Explosives. (c)1974, page 14.
  2. ↑ "Securesearch Inc - Realistic Inert Explosives Products, Inert IED Training Aids, Exact Replica Ordnances, Anti-Terrorism Awareness Products, IED Posters, Anti-Personnel Mines and Bomb Training Products for Military, Law Enforcement and Security Agencies :: Water Gel Explosives—Inert Simulants".
  3. ↑ "WATER GEL EXPLOSIVE (EDUCATIONAL)". www.freewebs.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-11.
  4. ↑ "Water Gel Explosives". Archived from the original on 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
  5. ↑ "Chemistry". 18 December 2007.
  6. ↑ "WATER GEL EXPLOSIVE (EDUCATIONAL)". www.freewebs.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-11.
  7. ↑ http://www.skk-banjaluckapivara.com/invent/stationary_exercise_bicycle/slurry_explosive_composition.html [ dead link ]
  8. ↑ Explomo Tovex Brochure
  9. ↑ "Water Gel Explosives". Archived from the original on 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2013-04-20.
  10. ↑ "Toxic Fume Comparison of a Few Explosives Used in Trench Blasting" (PDF). www.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
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