R. Meyer J. Köhler A. Homburg Explosives

Differential Thermal Analysis
Differential Thermal Analysis
Thermoanalyse; analyse thermique différentielle
All methods in which the sample to be analyzed is gradually heated
and its calorimetric behavior studied. The method includes thermogravimetry
(TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA).
In thermogravimetry, the sample is placed in an oven and heated the
desired rate; the loss in weight of the sample is then recorded. Such
changes in weight can be due, for example, to the evaporation of
hygroscopic moisture, evolution of gases, or chemical decomposition
reactions. The thermal balance can also be applied in this manner to
the study of thermal stability of explosive materials.
Thermal balance can also be combined with differential thermal analysis.
DTA registers small temperature differences, which appear during
simultaneous heating of the sample and a standard. In this way all
physical and chemical processes, which are accompanied by an additional
absorption or evolution of heat by the substance, are recorded.
Examples of such processes are changes taking place in the crystal
lattice, melting, evaporation, chemical reactions, and decompositions.
Thus, the application of DTA gives more selective information about
the behavior of explosive materials as a function of the temperature
than does the determination of the W Deflagration Point.
See also: Krien, Explosivstoffe, Vol. 13, p. 205 (1965). An extensive
report is given by Krien in an internal paper of the Bundesinstitut für
Chemisch-Technische Untersuchungen: Thermoanalytische Ergebnisse
der Untersuchung von Sprengstoffen, Az.: 3.0–3/3960/76
(1976).
Diglycerol Tetranitrate
Tetranitrodiglycerol; Tetranitrodiglycerin; tetranitrate de diglycérine
yellow oil
empirical formula: C6H10N4O13
molecular weight: 346.2
oxygen balance: –18.5%
nitrogen content: 16.18%
density: 1.52 g/cm3 lead block test: 470 cm3 /10 g
impact sensitivity: 0.15 kp m = 1.5 N m
Pure tetranitrodiglycerol is a very viscous oil, which is non-hygroscopic,
insoluble in water, and readily soluble in alcohol and ether. It
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