The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives - Sciencemadness Dot Org

226 NITRIC ESTERS
of 650 cc. and nitreglycerin one of 590 cc. Nitroglycol, like nitroglycerin,
burns with sputtering and explodes if local overheating
occurs, but nitroglycol and nitroglycol explosives in general burn
more quietly and show less tendency to explode from heat than
the corresponding nitroglycerin preparations. Nitroglycol explodes
with a sharp report if heated rapidly to 215°. It is less
sensitive to mechanical shock than nitroglycerin. Naoum 4e reports
the height of drop necessary to cause explosion, with a
2-kilogram weight, as follows.
HEIGHT or DROP, CENTIMETERS
Nitroglycol Nitroglycerin
Drop absorbed on filter paper 20-25 £-10
Blasting gelatin 25-30 12
Guhr dynamite 15 5
Rinkenbach 47 reports tests with a small drop machine having a
weight of 500 grams, nitroglycol 110 cm., nitroglycerin 70 cm.,
and a commercial mixture of nitraglycerin and nitropolyglycerin
90 cm.
Nitroglycol gelatinizes collodion cotton much faster than nitroglycerin
and acts at ordinary temperatures, while nitroglycerin
requires to be warmed. The greater volatility of nitroglycol does
not affect its usefulness in gelatin dynamite, especially in temperate
climates, but renders it unsuitable for use during the warm
season of the year in ammonium nitrate explosives which contain
only a few per cent of the oily nitric ester. It is too volatile for
use in double-base smokeless powder, for its escape by evaporation
affects the ballistic properties.
Dinitrodiglycol (Diethylene glycol dinitrate)
A study of the preparation and properties of dinitrodiglycol
was reported by Rinkenbach 48 in 1927 and a further study of the
nitration of diethylene glycol by Rinkenbach and Aaronson 49
in 1931. Dinitrodiglycol is a viscous, colorless, and odorless liquid,
specific gravity (z°/15°) 1.4092 at 0°, 1.3969 at 10°, and 1.3846
at 20°, freezing point —11.5°. It is completely miscible at ordinary
temperatures with nitroglycerin, nitroglycol, ether, acetone,
*« Op. dt., p. 225.
47 Loc. dt.
*»Ind. Eng. Chem., 19, 925 (1927).
*»lnd. Eng. Chem.., 23, 160 (1931).