EP1023249A1 - Composition d'amor age - Google Patents

Composition d'amor age

Info

Publication number
EP1023249A1
EP1023249A1 EP98940473A EP98940473A EP1023249A1 EP 1023249 A1 EP1023249 A1 EP 1023249A1 EP 98940473 A EP98940473 A EP 98940473A EP 98940473 A EP98940473 A EP 98940473A EP 1023249 A1 EP1023249 A1 EP 1023249A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
priming composition
composition
kdnbf
priming
oxidant
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP98940473A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Harold Arthur Royal Ordnance PLC SCOTT
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
BAE Systems PLC
Original Assignee
Royal Ordnance PLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Royal Ordnance PLC filed Critical Royal Ordnance PLC
Publication of EP1023249A1 publication Critical patent/EP1023249A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C06—EXPLOSIVES; MATCHES
    • C06C—DETONATING OR PRIMING DEVICES; FUSES; CHEMICAL LIGHTERS; PYROPHORIC COMPOSITIONS
    • C06C7/00—Non-electric detonators; Blasting caps; Primers

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a novel priming composition, and particularly but not exclusively to a priming composition for percussion caps for small .arms ammunition (SAA) capable of meeting military standards and a method for the manufacture thereof.
  • SAA small .arms ammunition
  • the main propellant charge contained within the cartridge case of a round of ammunition is relatively insensitive and requires an energetic input of considerable magnitude for successful rapid and gener ly complete ignition.
  • This input is provided by a primer located at the rear of the cartridge case, such primer comprising an energetic material which is relatively highly sensitive to an energy input such as percussion, or heat generated by friction, and provides in response thereto a flame (hot gas) and/or hot particulates for activating the propellant charge.
  • Suitable design of the primer enables appropriate direction of the flame and/or particulates, and suitable composition of the energetic material determines its sensitivity .and the nature of its fl.ame/particulate output.
  • a percussion primer typically comprises a cap formed of a cup and a priming composition within the cup, commonly covered with varnished paper or the like to exclude moisture, the cap being placed within a pocket in the casing of the round.
  • a Boxer primer there is also an anvil pressed into the open end of cup, whereas in a Berdan primer the anvil is integral with the pocket of the casing.
  • ignition of the priming composition is initiated by impacting the firing pin of a weapon against the central portion of the cup, thereby compressing the priming composition between anvil and cup.
  • Heat generated by compression and/or friction causes the composition to ignite almost instantaneously, and to burn very rapidly. Hot gases and /or particles are directed to the propellant in the casing by flash holes in the casing pocket
  • a priming composition for use in a percussion primer comprises a main energetic ingredient, an oxidant and a sensitiser which increases susceptibility of the main ingredient to the effect of the impact from the firing pin of the weapon.
  • Other components such as secondary energetic ingredient(s) and fuels which modify the output of the primer, for example by providing more heat or by producing hot particulates, may also be present.
  • the production only of a flame or hot gas can be found to be insufficient to promote efficient ignition of the propellant, insofar as the gas tends to impact and activate only the surface region thereof. Activation of the remaining volume of the propellant is therefore delayed, and depends on propagation of the reaction from the surface region. In such cases, the production of hot particulates can be beneficial, since these can be directed so as to penetrate the propellant and to activate it throughout a larger volume substantially simultaneously.
  • the components of many priming compositions contain heavy metal elements.
  • a common main energetic component is lead styphnate
  • a common oxidant is barium nitrate
  • a common fuel is antimony sulphide. It will be understood that the presence of heavy metals is now considered undesirable on health and environmental grounds.
  • known priming compositions are mixed by a wet mixing process in which the resulting wet mixture is pressed into a perforated plate to form pellets for loading into primer cups, and left to dry in the cups.
  • a binder is added to the active ingredients of the mix and the resulting dough is forced into a charge plate, extracted by the use of a dowel, and forced into the cap.
  • the filled cap is subsequently dried in a drying house to remove the volatile components of the binder . It is necessary for personnel to add wet caps to the stock in the drying house and to remove dried caps therefrom, and at any time it is common for a large number of caps, with a large explosive potential, to be present. If an incident occurs, it is likely to be on a scale sufficient to cause fatalities.
  • Dry mixing processes are known in which dry ingredients are blended in a jelly mould mixer and, in a filling cubicle, the resulting composition placed on a volumetric dispensing charge plate. A spatula sweeps back and forth over the charge plate, the volume of composition retained in a hole in the plate being of the correct weight for subsequent transfer to the cap.
  • the most significant risk of an explosive incident is associated with the mixing and filling cubicles, where bulk compositions are present. To minimise risk, these areas are enclosed behind thick reinforced concrete walls and entry by personnel is prohibited when filling is in progress. Thereafter, the amount of powder composition being transferred around other stations can be kept to a minimum, with pressing operations taking place behind guards.
  • a priming composition It is necessary to maintain homogeneity of a priming composition to ensure that correct takeover to the propellant takes place on intiation.
  • the wet mixing process has previously been preferred as it has provided more easily, a uniform, homogenous mixture of the priming composition components. This homogeneity is important in ensuring fast propogation of energy throughout the primer and in providing the optimum sensitivity and flame particulate output characteristics.
  • KDNBF potassium dinitrobenzofuroxan
  • tetrazene tetrazene
  • primary explosive a proportion of tetrazene to priming compositions comprising primary explosives such as KDNBF and diazodinitrophenol (DDNP), the tetrazene being employed as a sensitiser increasing the overall energetic potential of the composition.
  • US 4 693 201 advocates quantities of 4-8% tetrazene in a composition comprising 20 to 40% by weight of primary explosives, that is the explosive part of the composition comprises approximately 17% terazene and 83% primary explosive.
  • a priming composition which, inter alia, is stable over prolonged storage periods under a wide range of environmental conditions as laid down in STANAG 4170.
  • the presence of relatively large amounts of tetrazene in priming compositions such as that described in US 4 693201 has been found to lead to failure of the vacuum stability test dictated by STANAG 4170.
  • the proportion of tetrazene to primary explosive in the explosive portion of the composition is less than 15%, and preferably less than 10% .
  • US 4 693 201 promotes the use of strontium nitrate as an oxidant for its proposed priming compositions due to the increased flame temperature it provides over the insoluble and amphoteric dioxides and peroxides previously investigated as alternatives to the toxic lead styphnate.
  • Strontium is considered to be a relatively acceptable metal in relation to health and environment.
  • US 4 693 201 advocates a multi-step wet mixing process involving the hydration of commercially available anhydrous strontium nitrate to a total moisture content of 10 - 13% as a preliminary step prior to mixing with a wet mix of the primary explosive and tetrazene, pressing and then drying the caps.
  • a relatively non-toxic and good performance priming composition results, the manufacturer is faced with an expensive multi-step process with the associated safety risks previously mentioned for wet mixing processes.
  • the present invention provides a priming composition comprising up to 52 % by weight of an explosive composition, the explosive composition comprising at least 85% potassium dinitrobenzofuroxan (KDNBF) as a main energetic ingredient and no more than 15% tetrazene, 48 to 70 weight percent of anhydrous strontium nitrate and/or potassium nitrate as an oxidant, and optionally up to 15 weight percent of a fuel.
  • KDNBF potassium dinitrobenzofuroxan
  • the minimum amount of KDNBF in the overall composition will be 27 weight percent.
  • the explosive composition comprises less than 10% tetrazene and more than 90% KDNBF. Most preferred is that the explosive composition comprises less th.an about 6% tetrazene and at least 94% KDNBF. It has now been found that, by a suitable choice of ingredients, and, in particular, the physical form of those ingredients that it is possible to provide a priming composition of minimal toxicity in which KDNBF is combined with a suitably low amount of tetrazene, which retains desirable performance characteristics, and in particular an adequate sensitivity and stability, including the ability to conform to the vacuum stability test.
  • the KDNBF is preferably provided to give a crystal habit comprising aggregates of amorphous granules (orange/red in colour in their natural state) which permit a homogeneous composition to be formed on dry mixing with the other ingredients.
  • One particular feature which enables better homogeneity is the bulk density of the KDNBF crystals.
  • the KDNBF will have a bulk density of up to 0.4 gem '3 , most preferably the bulk density will be about 0.2gcm "3 . KDNBF with these characteristics has been found to sit conveniently well with the preferred oxidants and provides for good homogeneity in a dry mix of the oxidant and explosive.
  • the improved homogeneity of the composition helps improve the overall performance characteristics of the primer allowing the primary explosive to release its energy more efficiently when the primer is ignited and thus reducing the need for such large quantities of tetrazene.
  • a primer is provided which has comparable perfomance characteristics to the known compositions whilst having the stability to enable it to conform with the vacuum stability test.
  • this novel composition could be manufactured by the conventionally used wet mixing processes, however, the composition has the significant advantage that the desired properties can be achieved by the safer dry mixing process.
  • the KDNBF provides at least 28 weight percent and/or at most 36 weight percent of the priming composition, and more preferably 32 to 36 weight percent of the combined components excluding any fuel which may be present.
  • the relatively low amount of tetrazene facilitates compliance with the vacuum stability test. It is preferably present in an amount of between about 3% and 10 percent by weight of the explosive part of the priming composition, more preferably 3 to 7 percent by weight.
  • a preferred oxidant is anhydrous strontium nitrate, which retains the requisite sensitivity and reproducibility of results for military use.
  • Potassium nitrate is a suitable alternative oxidant for milit.ary purposes.
  • the particles of oxidant will have dimensions of from 40 microns to 70 microns this enables better distribution of the oxidant througout the mixture.
  • a small quantity of carbon black can be added to the oxidant to prevent the formation of larger aggregates which may affect the homogeneity of the mix.
  • the quantity of carbon black added will be added in a weight to weight proportion of less than one part carbon black to 9 parts oxidant, more preferably less than 1 part carbon black to 19 parts oxidant.
  • a fuel is dependent on the application of the priming composition. Where present, the fuel is preferably an inorganic compound.
  • a preferred fuel is calcium suicide, other commonly used fuels .are boron, aluminium and titanium.
  • a first example of a composition according to the present invention comprises 31.0 weight percent KDNBF, 56.1 weight percent strontium nitrate, 1.8 weight percent tetrazene and 11.1 weight percent calcium suicide.
  • the calcium suicide is a fuel component which is intended to provide hot p.articles for embedment in the propellant charge.
  • this composition has been shown to be compatible with other parts of the system, including the brass/nickel plated cap and the varnished paper; stable and falling within the vacuum stability requirement; capable of lighting surface moderated cut tubular and ball powder propellants, both single and double base, across the temperature range and beyond; and capable of lighting heavily deterred and slow burning propellants suitable for 0.50" rounds.
  • This composition essentially also gives rise to non-toxic combustion by-products.
  • Analysis of the latter by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy identified carbon dioxide and water vapour as the principal gaseous products from a series of test firings, and all other gases, including carbon monoxide were below the detection limit for this method of analysis.
  • FTIR Fourier Transform Infrared
  • a third example of composition according to the invention uses potassium nitrate as the oxidant. It comprises 53.0 weight percent potassium nitrate, 45 weight percent KDNBF and 2 weight percent tetrazene.
  • Caps containing the composition of this Example were loaded into two sets each of 30 cartridge cases, respectively containing the same two propellants as in Example 1. Each set was split into three equal subsets which were conditioned at -54°C, +21°C and +52°C, prior to firing in an EPVAT set-up. Ballistics of the test ammunition showed no difference relative to reference ammunition across the temperature range.

Landscapes

  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Air Bags (AREA)
  • Developing Agents For Electrophotography (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne une composition d'amorçage qui convient à la fabrication d'amorces à percussion conformes aux normes militaires, pouvant comprendre des métaux lourds non toxiques, entre 21 et 52 % en poids d'une composition explosive. Celle-ci renferme au moins 85 % de dinitrobenzofuroxane de potassium (KDNBF) en tant que principal ingrédient énergétique; et pas plus de 15 % de tétrazène en tant qu'agent sensibilisateur; entre 48 et 70 % en poids de nitrate de strontium anhydre et/ou de nitrate de potassium en tant qu'oxydant; et éventuellement jusqu'à 15 % en poids d'un combustible, par exemple du siliciure de calcium. On peut préparer la composition en mélangeant à sec les composants.
EP98940473A 1997-09-13 1998-09-03 Composition d'amor age Withdrawn EP1023249A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9719430 1997-09-13
GB9719430A GB2329380B (en) 1997-09-13 1997-09-13 Priming composition
PCT/GB1998/002652 WO1999014171A1 (fr) 1997-09-13 1998-09-03 Composition d'amorçage

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1023249A1 true EP1023249A1 (fr) 2000-08-02

Family

ID=10818975

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP98940473A Withdrawn EP1023249A1 (fr) 1997-09-13 1998-09-03 Composition d'amor age

Country Status (7)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1023249A1 (fr)
AU (1) AU759857B2 (fr)
GB (1) GB2329380B (fr)
NO (1) NO316068B1 (fr)
PL (1) PL339256A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO1999014171A1 (fr)
ZA (1) ZA988291B (fr)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ATA75099A (de) * 1999-04-28 2001-03-15 Hirtenberger Ag Anzündmischung
US20190023629A1 (en) * 2016-10-05 2019-01-24 Olin Corporation Pyrotechnic compositions
RU2669637C1 (ru) * 2017-08-11 2018-10-12 Акционерное общество "Центральный научно-исследовательский институт точного машиностроения" (АО "ЦНИИТОЧМАШ") Способ изготовления суспензионного ударно-воспламенительного состава и способ снаряжения патронов кольцевого воспламенения таким составом

Family Cites Families (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3499386A (en) * 1962-11-29 1970-03-10 Dynamit Nobel Ag Primer
FR1519799A (fr) * 1967-02-22 1968-04-05 France Etat Procédé de préparation d'un explosif d'amorçage
US4566921A (en) * 1985-02-08 1986-01-28 L'etat Francais Represente Par Le Delegue Ministeriel Pour L'armement Priming composition which is sensitive to percussion and a method for preparing it
FR2628735B1 (fr) * 1988-03-15 1990-08-24 Ncs Pyrotechnie Technologies Charges d'amorcage a percussion et leur procede de fabrication
US4963201A (en) * 1990-01-10 1990-10-16 Blount, Inc. Primer composition
FR2693721B1 (fr) * 1992-07-20 1994-10-21 Ncs Pyrotechnie Technologies Charge d'amorçage à percussion annulaire et son procédé de fabrication.
US5417160A (en) * 1993-12-01 1995-05-23 Olin Corporation Lead-free priming mixture for percussion primer
IT1266171B1 (it) * 1994-07-15 1996-12-23 Europa Metalli Sezione Difesa Miscela innescante esente da materiali tossici ed innesco a percussione per cartucce utilizzante tale miscela.
DE69508023T2 (de) * 1994-08-27 1999-10-07 Eley Ltd Initialladung
BR9500890A (pt) * 1995-02-24 1997-04-29 Companhia Brasileira De Cartuc Misturas iniciadoras não tóxicas isentas de chumbo e bário e tendo como oxidante principal óxido de estanho
DE19540278A1 (de) * 1995-10-28 1997-04-30 Dynamit Nobel Ag Blei- und Barium-freie Anzündsätze
US5646367A (en) * 1996-03-01 1997-07-08 Remington Arms Company, Inc. Conductive primer mix

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9914171A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU8879498A (en) 1999-04-05
NO20001254L (no) 2000-05-12
GB2329380A (en) 1999-03-24
GB9719430D0 (en) 1997-11-12
PL339256A1 (en) 2000-12-04
NO316068B1 (no) 2003-12-08
WO1999014171A1 (fr) 1999-03-25
GB2329380B (en) 1999-08-18
ZA988291B (en) 1999-04-23
AU759857B2 (en) 2003-05-01
NO20001254D0 (no) 2000-03-10

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US5216199A (en) Lead-free primed rimfire cartridge
CA2556595C (fr) Composes d'amorcage pour armes legeres
AU679301B2 (en) Lead-free priming mixture for percussion primer
KR100242749B1 (ko) 무독성 기폭 혼합물
US5831208A (en) Lead-free centerfire primer with DDNP and barium nitrate oxidizer
JPH11512697A (ja) 非毒性リムファイヤー伝爆薬
EP1062188A1 (fr) Amorces non toxiques pour arme de petit calibre
US4394197A (en) Cook-off resistant booster explosive
AU759857B2 (en) Priming composition
US6786986B2 (en) Non-toxic composition for priming mixture for small caliber arms ammunition
KR100545187B1 (ko) 압출가능 점화약 조성물로 형성된 점화약을 갖는 조명탄
USH285H (en) Oxygen rich igniter compositions
US3602283A (en) Priming mixture for ammunition
US5189249A (en) Gel propellant ammunition
RU2253647C1 (ru) Терочный воспламенительный состав
US20190023629A1 (en) Pyrotechnic compositions
WO1998002712A1 (fr) Munitions utilisant les systemes d'armes avec fusees eclairantes a infrarouges
WO1998050755A1 (fr) Compositions et articles a eclairage infrarouge
WO2007119037A1 (fr) Compositions d'amorçage
CZ790U1 (cs) Zážehová směs s obsahem výbušných nitraminů

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20000314

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): FI GB

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 20010525

RAP1 Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred)

Owner name: BAE SYSTEMS PLC

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20050824