Abstract
Ammonium nitrate (AN) is a cheap oxidizer, which is widely used in chemical industries, fertilizers, industrial explosives, military explosives and propellants. It shows low reactivity, high hygroscopicity and polymorphic phase transitions in ambience condition where these behaviors can limit its application as an oxidizer in solid propellants. Since AN provides low decomposition temperature, maximum gas per unit weigh and non-toxic products, it is usually used as an oxidizer in gas generators. In this work, the effect of cellulose derivatives on the phase transition and thermal behavior of AN has been investigated in order to extend its uses in smokeless and environmentally safe solid gas generators. Thermal behaviors of AN/cellulose derivative matrixes, AN/KNO3 and AN/KF have been studied by the simultaneous application of thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry. Moreover, a suitable computer code has been used to study the theoretical exhaust gases and mass of solid residues. The results suggest that cellulose acetate can be introduced as a good candidate for removing inappropriate phase transitions of AN.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Grant J. Ammonium compound. In: Kiru RE, Othmer DF, Grayson M, editors. Kirk-Othmer encyclopedia of chemical technology. 4th ed. Cambridge: Royal Soc Chem; 1992. p. 362–9.
Kubota N. Propellants and explosives: thermochemical aspects of combustion. New York: Wiley; 2007. p. 73–4.
Nagayama S, Katoh K, Higashi E, Nakano K, Habu H. Effect of polymer addition amount and type on thermal decomposition behavior of spray-dried particles comprising ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and polymer. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2014;118(2):1221–7.
Oommen C, Jain S. Ammonium nitrate: a promising rocket propellant oxidizer. J Hazard Mater. 1999;67(3):253–81.
Kajiyama K, Izato Y-I, Miyake A. Thermal characteristics of ammonium nitrate, carbon, and copper (II) oxide mixtures. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2013;113(3):1475–80.
Lee T, Chen JW, Lee HL, Lin TY, Tsai YC, Cheng S-L, et al. Stabilization and spheroidization of ammonium nitrate: co-crystallization with crown ethers and spherical crystallization by solvent screening. Chem Eng J. 2013;225:809–17.
Strecker R, Linde D. Gas generator propellants for air-to-air missiles. AGARD Solid Rocket Motor Technol (see N 80-10281 01-20). 1979.
Knowlton GD, Ludwig CP, Haun D. Inventors; Talley Defense Systems, Inc., assignee. Gas generating compositions, US Patent No: 5780768. 1998.
Sutton GP, Biblarz O. Rocket propulsion elements. 7th ed. New York: Wiley; 2001. p. 479–506.
Golovina N, Nechiporenko G, Nemtsev G, Dolganova G, Roshchupkin V, Lempert D, et al. Phase state stabilization of ammonium nitrate for creating an oxidizing agent for smokeless gas-generating formulations yielding no toxic combustion products. Russ J Appl Chem. 2007;80(1):24–30.
Theoret A, Sandorfy C. Infrared spectra and crystalline phase transitions of ammonium nitrate. Can J Chem. 1964;42(1):57–62.
Ingman JS, Kearley GJ, Kettle SF. Optical and thermal studies of transitions between phases II, III and IV of ammonium nitrate. J Chem Soc Faraday Trans 1 Phys Chem Condens Phases. 1982;78(6):1817–26.
Kiiski H. Properties of ammonium nitrate based fertilisers, Ph.D. Thesis. Helsinki, Finland: Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki; 2009.
Herrmann MJ, Engel W. Phase transitions and lattice dynamics of ammonium nitrate. Propellants Explos Pyrotech. 1997;22(3):143–7.
Chellappa RS, Dattelbaum DM, Velisavljevic N, Sheffield S. The phase diagram of ammonium nitrate. J Chem Phys. 2012;137(6):1–15.
Lang AJ, Vyazovkin S. Phase and thermal stabilization of ammonium nitrate in the form of PVP–AN glass. Mater Lett. 2008;62(12):1757–60.
Klimova I, Kaljuvee T, Türn L, Bender V, Trikkel A, Kuusik R. Interactions of ammonium nitrate with different additives: thermodynamic analysis. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2011;105(1):13–26.
Sudhakar AR, Mathew S. Thermal behaviour of CuO doped phase-stabilised ammonium nitrate. Thermochim Acta. 2006;451(1):5–9.
Oommen C, Jain S. Phase modification of ammonium nitrate by potassium salts. J Therm Anal Calorim. 1999;55(3):903–18.
Tan L, Wu Q, Chen X, Jiang W, Xu S, Liu D. The effects of sodium chloride on the explosive performance of ammonium nitrate. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2014;115(2):1759–66.
Oxley JC, Smith JL, Rogers E, Yu M. Ammonium nitrate: thermal stability and explosivity modifiers. Thermochim Acta. 2002;384(1):23–45.
Popławski D, Hoffmann J, Hoffmann K. Effect of carbonate minerals on the thermal stability of fertilisers containing ammonium nitrate. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2016;124(3):1561–74.
Merrill C, Dee LA. Phase stabilization of ammonium nitrate. Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards AFB, California. Contract No.: AFRL-RZ-ED-TP-2008-486. 2007.
Golovina N, Nechiporenko G, Nemtsev G, Zyuzin I, Manelis GB, Lempert D. Ammonium nitrate phase state stabilization with small amounts of some organic compounds. Cent Eur J Energ Mater. 2009;6(1):45–56.
Fleming WC, McSpadden HJ, Olander DE, inventors; Goodrich Corporation, assignee. Ammonium nitrate propellants and methods for preparing the same, Patent No. 2005/0092406 A1. US Patent. 2005.
Nagayama S, Katoh K, Higashi E, Nakano K, Kumagae K, Habu H, et al. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis of crystal structure transformation in spray-dried particles consisting of ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and a polymer. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2014;118(2):1215–9.
Castorina TC, Smetana AF. Effect of polymer coating on ammonium nitrate substrate. J Appl Polym Sci. 1974;18(5):1373–83.
Pérez-García S, Fernández-Pérez M, Villafranca-Sánchez M, González-Pradas E, Flores-Céspedes F. Controlled release of ammonium nitrate from ethylcellulose coated formulations. Ind Eng Chem Res. 2007;46(10):3304–11.
Wei Y, Cai BH, editors. Study on surface modification of ammonium nitrate. Advanced materials research. Zurich: Trans Tech Publication; 2011.
Mei Z-h, Qian H, Lü C-x. Effect of acrylic potassium salt polymer on the phase stabilization of ammonium nitrate. Chin J Explos Propellants. 2010;2:005.
Zhang J. Study on properties of the coated AN with polyvinyl butyral. Chin J Explos Propellants. 2001;24(1):41–3.
Lang AJ, Vyazovkin S. Ammonium nitrate–polymer glasses: a new concept for phase and thermal stabilization of ammonium nitrate. J Phys Chem B. 2008;112(36):11236–43.
Yeager J, Chellappa R, Singh S, Majewski J. Thermal behavior of glassy phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) thin films. Mater Today Commun. 2015;3:1–9.
Brown E. An introduction to Propep, a propellant evaluation program for personal computers. J Pyrotech. 1995;1:11–8.
Jona E, Šramko T, Nagy D. Thermal properties of ammonium nitrate: I. Study of the reproducibility of DTA curves in relation to modification transformation. J Therm Anal Calorim. 1983;27(1):37–42.
Rudjak I, Kaljuvee T, Trikkel A, Mikli V. Thermal behaviour of ammonium nitrate prills coated with limestone and dolomite powder. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2010;99(3):749–54.
Kazemi A, Hayaty M, Mousaviazar A, Samani KA, Keshavarz MH. The synthesis and characterization of polyvinyl nitrate as an energetic polymer and study of its thermal behavior. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2015;119(1):613–8.
Mousaviazar A, Keshavarz MH, Hayaty M, Kazemi A. Synthesis, characterization and thermal behavior of 2, 4-dinitrophenoxy ethanol as a suitable plasticizer for propellants formulations. J Therm Anal Calorim. 2016;126(2):681–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mousaviazar, A., Keshavarz, M.H. & Hayaty, M. The effect of cellulose derivatives on the phase transition and thermal behavior of ammonium nitrate. J Therm Anal Calorim 128, 1049–1056 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-6031-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-016-6031-4