Integrated Data Collection Analysis (IDCA) Program - KClO₃/Dodecane Mixture

Technical Report · Mon May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1305863· OSTI ID:1305863

Sandstrom, Mary M. ^[1]; Brown, Geoffrey W. ^[1]; Preston, Daniel N. ^[1]; Pollard, Colin J. ^[1]; Warner, Kirstin F. ^[2]; Sorenson, Daniel N. ^[2]; Remmers, Daniel L. ^[2]; Shelley, Timothy J. ^[3]; Whinnery, LeRoy L. ^[4]; Hsu, Peter C. ^[5]; Reynolds, John G. ^[5]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Indian Head, MD (United States). Indian Head Division
3. Air Force Research Lab. (AFRL), Tyndall AFB, FL (United States)
4. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
5. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

The Integrated Data Collection Analysis (IDCA) program is conducting a proficiency study for Small-Scale Safety and Thermal (SSST) testing of homemade explosives (HMEs). Described here are the results for impact, friction, electrostatic discharge, and differential scanning calorimetry analysis of a mixture of KClO₃ and dodecane—KClO₃/dodecane mixture. This material was selected because of the challenge of performing SSST testing of a mixture of solid and liquid materials. The mixture was found to: 1) be more sensitive to impact than RDX, and PETN, 2) less sensitive to friction than PETN, and 3) less sensitive to spark than RDX. The thermal analysis showed little or no exothermic features suggesting that the dodecane volatilized at low temperatures. A prominent endothermic feature was observed assigned to melting of KClO₃. This effort, funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ultimately will put the issues of safe handling of these materials in perspective with standard military explosives. The study is adding SSST testing results for a broad suite of different HMEs to the literature. Ultimately the study has the potential to suggest new guidelines and methods and possibly establish the SSST testing accuracies needed to develop safe handling practices for HMEs. Each participating testing laboratory uses identical test materials and preparation methods wherever possible. Note, however, the test procedures differ among the laboratories. The results are compared among the laboratories and then compared to historical data from various sources. The testing performers involved for the KClO₃/dodecane mixture are Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and Indian Head Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, (NSWC IHD). These tests are conducted as a proficiency study in order to establish some consistency in test protocols, procedures, and experiments and to understand how to compare results when these things cannot be made consistent.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS)
• Contributing Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States); Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Indian Head, MD (United States); Air Force Research Lab. (AFRL), Tyndall AFB, FL (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344; AC52-06NA25396; AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1305863
• Report Number(s): LLNL-TR-484788
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
small-scale safety testing
proficiency test
round-robin test
safety testing protocols
HME
RDX
potassium chlorate
sugar
dodecane