How is dynamite used

If not pre-mixed, they are quite stable and insensitive. A lot less sensitive than dynamite but more sensitive than emulsion. More sensitive at higher temperatures. Emulsions are the least sensitive type of explosives. Cartridges are fairly resistant to rupturing during normal handling.

Water Resistance Straight dynamite has good water resistance. Gelatin dynamite is nearly waterproof. Ammonia dynamite has poor water resistance. Poor water resistance Good to excellent water resistance. Excellent water resistance. Fumes Straight dynamite has some toxic fumes. Ammonia and gelatin dynamite fumes are less toxic. ANFO produces less toxic fumes than dynamite but more than slurry or emulsion explosives. Slurries and emulsions have a similar fume class.

The least expensive and most available explosive. Widely available. Less expensive than dynamite, more expensive than ANFO. Similar in both cost and availability to slurries.

When modeling these processes, it is difficult to A special type of infrared laser, known as a swept-wavelength external cavity quantum The new detection method is able to analyze a wider range of materials than current These give hints to scientists about the conditions under which diamonds are formed deep in the Earth's mantle.

Despite having been known since , the explosive jump has not been fully A new study has now shown that both skills rely on Have We Detected Dark Energy? If instead of precipitating the product with water, the reaction liquid was left in a closed vase, it slowly acquired the various tints of a mixture of nitric acid and nitrogen dioxide.

All of the starch was converted, explaining the increase in weight observed. Additional findings were as follows: If instead of leaving the mixture of starch and concentrated nitric acid to react at ambient temperature, it was immediately brought to its boiling point, starch decomposed in a few minutes and became a deliquescent acid, easily obtained pure and in large quantities by evaporation in a water bath. Moderate heating converted it into another acid, black colored, soluble in water, and able to regenerate under the addition of nitric acid the white acid from which it originated.

Concentrated boiling nitric acid attacked it with difficulty while cold acid transformed it slowly into oxalic acid, without disengagement of carbon dioxide. The news caught the immediate attention not only of chemists, but also of political and military circles. This piece of news may well be considered the catalyst that precipitated the intense research in the area of nitration of organic compounds that eventually led to dynamite.

The years and saw the publication of a very large number of papers and letters to the editor, particularly in Comptes Rendus, regarding the products obtained by the reaction of nitric acid with a variety of substances: sugars, cellulosic materials, polyalcohols, etc.

One pound of explosive cotton produced the same effects as two to four pounds of common gunpowder. Contrary to ordinary gunpowder that exploded into thick smoke, fouling the cannon and small arms and obscuring the battle field, guncotton, well prepared, did not leave a residue, did not produce fumes, and its fabrication, besides being very cheap, did not involve dangers of explosion.

The washing stage was the critical one because it was very difficult to get rid of the last traces of acid. After drying, these traces released nitric oxide and if the product was lit over a porcelain plate it also generated acid vapors.

The promptness of the combustion of a ball of explosive cotton on a porcelain plate was the best sign of the quality of the product: Touching the ball with red-hot carbon it glowed like gunpowder, but without leaving a residue, if fired slowly and left cinders, then the preparation was inadequate for use in firearms.

It could well be said that the best product was the one that was difficult to distinguish from pure cotton. The important news in this recipe was the use of a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids, instead of nitric acid alone, for preparing cotton powder. This note was published in the pages immediately following Dumas' note Pelouze, a. On the basis of this assumption, Pelouze wanted to set the historical record straight. The plate had been pierced while the bullet flattened strongly against a wall.

In addition, in several opportunities ignition of the powder in a cannon did not produce enough gas to propel the shell and the volume of the weakest charges used was, in general, considerable and exceeded the one convenient to use in firearms. After many tests done at the Central Arsenal, it had been possible to develop products substantially more flammable and more combustible than the ones reported by others.

The information available at the moment did not seem to guarantee the replacement of gunpowder by the new material. A remarkable characteristic of the reaction was the rapidity with which it took place in spite of the insolubility of the cellulose; it simply occurred by impregnation.

Admitting that nitrated cellulose was the sole product of the reaction, calculations indicated that it must result from the combination of two equivalents of nitric acid with one equivalent of cellulose, minus one equivalent of water and corresponding to the overall formula C 12 H 11 O 12 N 2.

From the properties and analysis of both materials it was clear that when the amylaceous and the ligneous substances lost their solid state and dissolved in concentrated nitric acid, one at room temperature and the other at a higher temperature, the products resulting from the action of water on the solutions were different from the ones originating from the simple impregnation of cellulose.

The presence of sulfuric acid had two advantages, first it concentrated the nitric acid by withdrawing part of its water, and second, its price was substantially lower than that of nitric acid, diminishing substantially the loss of the latter. In the impregnation process a substantial amount of nitric acid adhered to the solid material and was lost in the washing process. Using a mixture of the two acids reduced the loss significantly and, in addition, sulfuric acid retained the nitrous vapors that were usually part of concentrated nitric acid, making the operation less unpleasant.

In an additional short notice Pelouze, d Pelouze noticed that the introduction of percussion cap ammunitions based on mercury fulminant had led to a sizable development of the weapons industry. Unfortunately, use of this chemical had converted the ammunition industry into a most dangerous and polluting one. He expected that replacement of mercuric fulminant by nitrocellulose would result in a much safer and clean process since it was already known that cotton powder compressed with a few grains of common gunpowder yielded substantially improved percussion caps.

Addition of common gunpowder led to the complete combustion of pyroxylin and the resulting inflammation was easily communicated to the complete charge.

I add that my method of preparing this explosive substance is different from the one used by M. Pelouze to prepare his paper powder After reading these lines, Dumas added his own ideas on the subject. The raw gas contained very flammable products as shown by the fact that it burned in contact with a candle. From these results Dumas believed that if the explosion of cotton powder inside weapons produced these gases, then the weapons would not resist it and would oxidize promptly.

Nevertheless, if the detonation took place in a small confined space and in a given period of time, it might generate other products because the gases would probably react between them.

That is, it could well be that the use of cotton powder in firearms may not have the inconveniences that could originate from the acid products of its explosion in a free space. In the case of detonation caps the formation of NO 2 seemed unavoidable. Cotton powder damped with an aqueous solution of potassium nitrate and then dried, would generate a smaller amount of NO 2 and probably be more valuable.

Cotton powder impregnated with potassium chlorate resulted in a fulminating product superior to cotton powder alone. Forty to fifty milligrams were enough for firing a pocket pistol and its effects did not damage the weapon. Pelouze replied to the above comments Pelouze, e saying that the problems raised by Dumas were easily avoided using cotton of the proper quality and taking care of the proper preparation of pyroxylin.

Vanderckroff found that cold sulfuric acid dissolved both pyroxylin and ordinary cotton Vanderckroff, The two solutions behaved differently upon heating, the cotton one became strongly colored immediately while that of pyroxylin first generated a large amount of gas and became colored only after a long time.

This simple procedure could then be used to distinguish between both materials. Pelouze added Pelouze, that Richier had found that pyroxylin was soluble in methyl and ethyl acetates and that this property allowed a more exact chemical analysis, and that he believed that its correct empirical formula was C 24 H 17 O 17' 5NO 5.

This formula explained why this explosive did not leave a solid residue on burning because it burned completely into gases and water vapor. A letter to Pelouze from J. Four grains of pyroxylin charged into a pistol produced the same results as six grains of gunpowder.

Adding concentrated sulfuric acid under agitation precipitated the pyroxylin completely as white flakes, without appreciable loss of weight and with all the original properties, except for their shape.

De Vrij suggested to Pelouze that this flocculent form might find use in the manufacture of percussion caps. Adding to the nitric solution water instead of sulfuric acid precipitated bitter tasting flakes, which were soluble in alcohol and in a large amount of water, burned well in contact with a flame or upon heating, but at a slower rate that pyroxylin, and left a carbon residue.

Another interesting finding was that acetone transformed instantly pyroxylin into a transparent gel that coagulated by addition of water into white flakes looking very much like cotton.

Addition of large amounts of acetone resulted in the complete solution of pyroxylin. Pyroxylin was dissolved by caustic soda, while the cotton, which had been used for this preparation was not attacked.

Water or acids did not precipitate the resulting solution. Concentrated sulfuric acid dissolved pyroxylin at room temperature without coloration. Addition of concentrated sulfuric acid to a nitric solution of cotton precipitated pyroxylin.

For this reason de Vrij doubted that both had the same composition. Anselme Payen Payen, recommended that in order to prepare pyroxylin with the highest combustible properties, it was necessary to use cellulose free of ligneous incrustations and purified of all the mineral, fatty materials, and nitrogenous materials, etc.

The nitric and sulfuric acids should be free of nitrous oxide because this gas impaired the quality of the product. At his request Morin had performed ballistic experiments of nitric cotton prepared either with a pure acid mixture or loaded with nitrogen monoxide, and found that the explosive product made with the pure acids sent the cannon ball It was Pelouze's last remark, which caused Sobrero to react. I add that I have already analyzed fulminant sugar and although I have been unable to avoid the formation of nitrogen oxides during the combustion, the results that I have obtained thus far lead me to believe that this compound will be formed of sugar C 12 H 11 0 11 less two equivalents of water and plus two equivalents of nitric acid.

According to Sobrero, the composition of glycerin could no longer be represented by carbon and water and its combination with fatty acids indicated that it behaved like a base. Being somewhat analogue to sugar and lignin it could be assumed to react in a similar manner as these substances.

So far, his results proved that glycerin reacted with a mixture of sulfuric and nitric acids to give a compound similar to fulminant cotton. If the mixture of the two acids was kept in a refrigeration mixture and the glycerin added slowly to avoid an increase in temperature, it dissolved completely without apparent reaction. If the mixture was now added to water, an oily material heavier-than-water settled at the bottom. This oily layer was separated and washed with a large amount of water to eliminate completely the acids, without loss because it was insoluble in water.

This material could be kneaded and shaped into rods suitable for insertion into drilling holes. He called his paste dynamite and went on to develop a blasting cap which could be used to detonate dynamite under controlled conditions. Nobel Prizes Thirteen laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in , for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.