Abstract
The influence of relative humidity on the consumption of ethyl centralite during the degradation of a nitrocellulose-based propellant was investigated. For such energetic material, long term safe storage – maybe decades – is required and various relative humidity conditions can be found. The investigations of chemical integrity based on accelerated ageing by heating and stability tests are not sufficient to characterize the degradation in real conditions. A sample of propellant was aged in different conditions of relative humidity and the residual stabilizer was quantified by HPLC analyses. The stabilizer consumption at ambient temperature was predicted according to the linearized Arrhenius model. We observed a substantial difference in ethyl centralite consumption by comparing the values obtained for distinct humidity conditions. A possible explanation was proposed. Our results allow one to propose an optimum range of relative humidity for long term storage.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank to R. Rosato, S. M. Souza, and D. A. R. Vallim from Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos (CBC), and M. F. Lemos from Navy Resarch Institute (IPqM) of the Brazilian Navy for the support and useful discussions.
Funding
Grants E-26/210.067/2021, E-26/211.046/2021, and E-26/201.251/2022 E- from Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Supporting Research in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ).
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Conceptualization: JN and LGMF. Data curation: FPT and JN. Formal analysis: LGMF and ACA. Investigation: FPT. Methodology: FPT and JN. Supervision: JN and LGMF. Writing: FPT, JN, and ACA.
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Teixeira, F.P., Anastacio, A.C., de Mendonça-Filho, L.G. et al. Effect of relative humidity and absorbed water on the ethyl centralite consumption in nitrocellulose-based propellants. Cellulose 30, 1411–1420 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-022-04999-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-022-04999-4