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Science and Technology of Energetic Materials

Vol.77, No.4 (2016)

Letter

Mixtures of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate containing 10 wt% potassium nitrate and tetrazoles as gas-generating agents
Kazuo Hasue and Makoto Matsukawa
p.98-104

Abstract

In this study, phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate and tetrazoles mixtures were investigated as gas-generating agents for air bags. Ammonium nitrate does not give off harmful gases or solid burning residues but goes through contraction and expansion during a series of phase transitions that cause structural damage to the grains. In this study, phasestabilized ammonium nitrate containing 10 wt% of potassium nitrate was prepared by a nonhazardous aqueous method. Phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate based propellants have been known to show low burning rates. Tetrazoles were selected as they have a large heat of formation and can be used as fuel components for phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate-based gas-generating agents. In this study, the burning rate, gas generation ability by means of 4 L tank test, the mol% and wt% of each generated product, efficiency of gas evolution, wt% of solid products, number of moles of generated gas per 100 g of gas-generating agent, wt% of solid products, calorific value of per mole of gas generated, sensitivities, and thermal stability were studied on the phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate and tetrazoles mixtures to evaluate their application as gas-generating agents.

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Keywords

phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate, tetrazole, gas-generating agent, burning rate, 4L tank test

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