Dynagel DN40

[HNIW]

Anyone know's the density and the detonation velocity of this high density plastic explosive?
This can be made from:
50% amonium nitrate
40% DEGN(diethyleneglycol dinitrate)
5% PbO
8% PbSO4

Thanks

[nbk2000]

What kind of explosive is 13% lead?!

It'd be heavy, that's for sure. Also toxic to handle.

Who manufactures it? Because I don't think any modern manufacturer would make an explosive like this. Sounds more like someones home cooked recipe.

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[cutefix]

I have not heard of this Dynagel gelatinized explosive,however pondering on its composition,is it really a plasticized material?I do not think so.It does not even contain nitrocellulose or other suitable plasticizer like in standard gelatin dynamites.The formula appears to be a modification of ammonia dynamites which are low powered explosives.Well DEGN is a noted plasticizer in solid propellants but if used alone and added to ammonium nitrate,it will look like dampened sand with no water proofing ability.So this material is not a plastic explosive but a wet one.It will not be a dense explosive either as what is claimed.

Diethylene Glycol Dinitrate is not an impressive nitric esters if compared with its relatives- Nitroglycerin,and Ethylene Glycol Dinitrate with regards to explosive performance.It will be much more lessened with addition of nitrate salts in order to improve its oxygen balance.I would predict this particular binary formulation will have detonation velocity in the vicinity of 3000-3500 meters per second.This material, also contain ballasts(lead salts).The resulting explosive will be heavier.I was wondering of the idea,why they put lead in it ?
.I think you better recheck the formula for there is something amiss in it.It is 103%,did you copy it properly?.Is the ingredients, are what is shown exactly in the label of this particular explosive,or they are withholding critical proprietary information….

[CodeMason]

Heavy salts being thrown out acts as a sort of micro-shrapnel, heavy particulate solids in an explosion would increase its destructive force. Lead sulfate can also be used as an agent to help gelitinize. Maybe it's a slurry explosive? Due to the redox reaction happening between the AN and the DEGDN, my guess is the detonation velocity would be around 5000-5500m/s.

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[simply RED]

I also think that the detonation speed will be 4-5km/s because of the good density of the explosive.
Is DEGN O2N-O-CH=CH-CH=CH-O-NO2? As i see it will have isomers. Which isomer is used in this explosive?
But i aslo can't understand the purpose of the lead, and the missing of plasticizing mathereal.

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[This message has been edited by simply RED (edited October 25, 2001).]

[cutefix]

DEGDN is an inferior explosive compared to nitroglycerin and ethylene glycol dinitrate,that is why it is seldom used as the main explosive for blasting agents application.,therefore a VOD of 4000m/s is difficult to be reached in this typical formulation..A slurry explosive generally contains water,as part of its components,but this formula if its right does not have it.If the purpose of adding lead salts was to increase its density,there is an ingredient missing in order to obtain a really dense material(just like in normal plastic explosive) Heavy metals(even in salts) is not enough,besides it will have a tendency to settle in transport and storage so explosive homogeneity will be affected if the mixture is not stabilized by plasticizing with additional material.I anticipate that the expected texture of that material sans the plasticizer will be from wet sand to a mushy,or thick gravy.
Another thing is lead is known to be toxic,and at explosion temperatures of around 3000K or more these lead salts will be volatilized and no shrapnel formation will occur. If this is used in commercial blasting it will add to the fume toxicity(aside from NO2 and CO),therefore it is not an environmentally friendly explosive.So what is its made for?It is weak for military appllicationThe lower VOD of these explosive indicates that the explosive reaction time will be in several microseconds to almost a millisecond,enough to disperse explosion reaction products in form of gas and submicron particulates of lead.
Theoritically high density explosive has high VOD,but there are a lot of exceptions in practice especially in commercial blasting agents and in liquid explosives like the,NG, PLXs and Astrolites.As far as I know this density dependence term is more suitable to military cast and plastic bonded explosives where usually the higher the density the higher is its detonation rate.But even there are still exceptions such as the presence of metals will usually increase the density slightly but will lessen the VOD,( e.g.,Aluminum in HBX,and tritonal).
The only application I know where lead is present in the explosive is Plumbatol used in nuclear trigger mechanism.It is typically a (60/40)Pb(NO3)2/TNT its detonation rate is around 4500 m/s.
DEGDN due to its structure will presumably contains isomers but it will have negligible effect in the explosion charateristics.
If any of you have Urbanski books ,kindly look up if their are detailed properties of this DEGDN,it will surely illuminate this discussion.

[radar]

Anyone know how PGDN compares to the above mentioned nitroesters? Thanks.

[cutefix]

Radar, PGDN had some similarity with DEGDN because they have almost the same VOD in the vicinity of 6900 m/s.compare that with nitroglycerin having a det. rate of about 7700m/s.I remember also that the DEGDN have similar density that is about 1.37 +_g/cc.Nitroglycerin have a density of 1.6g/cc.
DEGDN is prone to low velocity detonation,and PGDN is more prone to high velocity detonation,but requires strong confinement for succesful explosion.Both of these dinitrates are less sensitive to impact than the nitroglycerin.It is obvious that your propylene glycol dinitrate is a better explosive than diethylene glycol dinitrate.The DEGDN is more practically suited as plasticizers,as it is used in both in some formulations of both gun and rocket propellants.
I was thinking in another way that the DynagelDN 40 was possibly used as propellant,and lead salts function as burn rate modifier,but the question remains how can you properly gelatinize this DEGDN without Nitrocellulose or other similar energetic plasticizer;also how can you form cohesive mass that will suit it as a propellant without another material.
Now if these DEGDN plasticized possibly with NC it is possible that it will form the desired cohesiveness, and better density and it will help attain the much expected 4500+ m/s detonation velocity for a proper plastic explosive of this category.A mushy mixture will have tendency for low velocity detonation,even with strong blasting cap.
Looking back at the formula how can all those ammonium nitrate absorb the liquid without the help of an absorbent like wood flour,etc,.(Nitroglycerin based ammonia dynamite requires it).Another possible option is, this DEGDN should be semi-gelled state(thickened) to be able to be dispersed in a hydrophilic salt like ammonium nitrate;that with the help of an undeclared thickening agent.It may also contain another undeclared powerful nitric ester in order to qualify as a practical HE.I have not seen formulation using this DEGDN alone even in propellant application;it is always in combination.Therefore we can conclude that there is something wrong with the formula.
It is indeed an interesting puzzle…..

[vulture]

DEGDN has a VoDof 6600m/s, explosion heat of 4666Kj/Kg and impact sensivity of 0,2Nm.
It's being used to make smokefree explosives, the germans used it in combination with nitrocellulose, centralit (no idea what this is) and potassiumsulfate in artillery shells.
Maybe that's were the PbSO4 comes from....

EGDN has an explosion heat of 7294kJ, explosion T 4700C, VoD 7300m/s, lead block test 620mL/10g. It's more powerful than NG and more stable, 0,2Nm. It's somewhat volatile, at 35C it loses 22% of its weight.

Both compounds are extremely toxic, MAC for EGDN is 0,05ppm.

[This message has been edited by vulture (edited December 24, 2001).]

[cutefix]

Ethyl Centralite is a burn rate modifier/stabilizer.Check this:
http://www.main.co.il/products1/fine/ethyl-centralite.asp.

[vulture]

sorry cutefix, but it's a 404

[CodeMason]

The link is a casuality of proper punctuation! Just remove the last period.

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