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Explosives and Propellants: Power to Breach Mountains, Wage war and Visit the Moon
Published in Richard J. Sundberg, The Chemical Century, 2017
Germany adopted TNT for artillery shells in 1902. The German chemical industry was able to produce TNT from toluene obtained from coal tar. Although a less powerful explosive than picric acid, it was much easier to manufacture and use in shells. TNT is easy to cast as a melt and is very stable in the cast form. Its main drawback is that it is difficult to detonate and requires a “booster.” At the beginning of WWI, the Germans had a great advantage in artillery as a result of both the size of their guns and the amount and quality of ammunition available. As this became apparent, the British switched to TNT. TNT production was increased from 20 t/week in 1914 to 1000 t/week by 1916. Both the French and British also imported large amounts of TNT made by DuPont. TNT mixed with NH4NO3, known as Amatol, was also put into production. The optimized method for production of TNT uses step-wise nitration in a circulating pump system. The nitrating acid mixture and toluene are introduced into the pump and part of the reaction product is drawn off and separated by gravity into the organic and acid layers. The acid can be recycled after increasing its strength and the partially nitrated toluene is sent through successive reactors. The final product is washed with water, sodium sulfite solution, and again by water. It is dried by hot air and finally processed from the molten state. Tetryl, which is N-methyl-N,2,4,6-tetranitroaniline, and a close chemical relative of picric acid, was also used in artillery shells during WWI. Tetryl is too sensitive to use alone as an explosive, but can be used in a combination with TNT that is called Tetrylol.
Chemicals from Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Published in James G. Speight, Handbook of Petrochemical Processes, 2019
Amatol is a highly explosive material that is a mixture of trinitrotoluene and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). Amatol was used extensively during World War I and World War II, typically as an explosive in military weapons such as aircraft bombs, canon shells, depth charges, and naval mines.
The Trinity High-Explosive Implosion System: The Foundation for Precision Explosive Applications
Published in Nuclear Technology, 2021
Eric N. Brown, Dan L. Borovina
Similarly, the explosive Amatol consisting of a mechanics mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate was developed during World War I and used extensively during World War II in mines and warheads. The United States used Baratols with slightly more barium nitrate to fill depth charges and other limited munitions. Needing an explosive of a very low detonation velocity to pair with the Composition B in the lenses for Fat Man, Kistiakowsky noted40 that he “assigned the job to his friends at an Explosives Research Laboratory in Pittsburgh, the so-called Bruceton Laboratory, of which I was the chief until I went to Los Alamos.” At the Pittsburgh laboratory, Dr. Duncan MacDougall and an associate developed the Baratol explosive containing up to 76 wt% of barium nitrate. Duncan MacDougall also ultimately made his way to Los Alamos, where he succeeded Kistiakowsky as the X Division leader. In 1948, MacDougall led the merger of the X Division with the M (Implosion) Division, which had been led by Darol Froman, and the G (Gadget) Division, which had been led Robert Bacher, to form the GMX Division. MacDougall went on to lead the GMX Division until 1970.