Thermodynamics Research Center / ThermoML | Thermochimica Acta

ABSTRACT

Two explosive cyclic acetone peroxides, diacetone diperoxide (DADP) and triacetone triperoxide (TATP)have been studied in respect of thermal decomposition, burning behavior, impact sensitivity, and initi-ating efficiency. Using the glass Bourdon gauge technique, the vapor pressures of TATP and DADP weredetermined over the temperature range 75.144.C and 67.120.C, respectively. The kinetic parametersof decomposition of the peroxides in the gas phase have been obtained in the temperature interval of140.200.C. The decomposition of both DADP and TATP followed the first-order reaction to high degreesof decay with close activation energies of 159.2 kJ/mol (38.0 kcal/mol) and 165.8 kJ/mol (39.6 kcal/mol),respectively. The decomposition rate constants of DADP were found to be approximately 2 times less thanthose of TATP. The linear burning rate of DADP measured in a constant-pressure window bomb appearedto be approximately 5 times less than that of TATP. Temperature profiles in the combustion wave weremeasured at subatmospheric pressures with the help of thin tungsten-rhenium thermocouples. The lead-ing reaction on combustion of both volatile peroxides was assumed to occur in the gas phase. Kineticparameters of the leading reaction derived from the combustion data showed a good agreement withkinetic parameters of low-temperature thermal decomposition extrapolated to the high-temperatureflame zone. In the drop-weight impact test, DADP appeared to be notably less sensitive peroxide thanTATP. No deflagration-to-detonation transition was observed when RDX was attempted to explode byusing 0.5 g of DADP in the standard detonator No. 8 shell. Comparing explosive properties of the studiedperoxides, DADP may be considered as a less dangerous, however still unsafe explosive in handling asTATP.