Experimental investigation of detonation of nitric acid solutions

Detonation of mixtures of concentrated (94–100%) nitric acid with nitromethane, diethylene glycol dinitrate, nitroglycol, trinitrotoluene, dinitrotoluene, acetic anhydride, and dichlorethane was studied experimentally. The detonation failure diameter was measured in glass tubes. For mixtures of nitric acid with nitromethane, dinitrotoluene, and trinitrotoluene, its minimum values are smaller than 1 mm and correspond to zero oxygen balance of the mixtures (A=0). Nitroglycol (A=0) and its mixtures containing less than 20% nitrogen acid have the same detonation diameter (2 mm), which is larger than that for a mixture of nitric acid with diethylene glycol dinitrate (1 mm forA=0). The minimum values of the detonation diameter for mixtures of nitric acid with acetic anhydride and dichlorethane (2 and 3 mm) are shifted towardA<0. Comparison of the detonation diameter with calculated values of the heat of explosion and analysis of the experimental results within the framework of Dremin’s theory of the detonation failure diameter show that nitric acid enhances the reactivity of nitrocompounds in a shock wave more considerably than the reactivity of nitroesters.