How are explosives manufactured without exploding? e.g grenades, c4
In: Technology
A part from other comments, even knowning the chemistry principles behind, accidents in explosive factories do occur. The place where I come from is known for fireworks manufacturing and fatal explosions happens from time to time.
Secondary explosives like TNT or RDX are relatively stable and can be handled, stored, and even melted without much issue.
Primary explosives however (those used to initiate detonation in a secondary explosives) need to be handled and manufactured in very specialized and controlled conditions, since friction, shock, and heat can set them off. What these conditions are depends on the explosive being manufactured.
In a lot of cases, processing is done in a “wet” state, where the explosive compound is dissolved or mixed with a solvent. This lessens their sensitivity during manufacturing. Drying off the solvent returns the explosive to its sensitive state. Tools and containers for processing/handling the explosive compounds are usually made of soft materials like wood or rubber. For stuff like nitroglycerin, the ingredients are kept cold during mixing, and forced air nozzles are used instead of mechanical stirrers.
Generally in all cases, the explosives have to be made in small batches at a time to lessen the risk of accidental detonation.
EDIT: I just consulted my copy of “The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives”, and there is an interesting subsection on how detonators for dynamite were made in the early days.
A rectangular rubber mat placed behind a concrete barrier is used to mix small batches of mercury fulminate and potassium chlorate powder together. Wires attached to the corners of the rubber mat to allow them to be manipulated by a worker at a distant. By repeatedly lifting and lowering the corners, the ingredients on the mat are thoroughly mixed together.
The mixed explosive powder is then carefully pour into a rubber bowl, and carried to another location to be filled into caps. Note, the book then states that the powder loaded into the caps are then subject to a pressure of 2900 psi by a press with a wooden rod to compact it.
Explosives is a broad term, there are explosives that are very sensitive which are used to initiate an explosion and explosives so inert you can set fire to them and they will just burn like a piece of wood.
Most explosive devices contain mostly inert explosives like C4 which you can add to anything with as much danger as handling clay and the sensitive explosive initiator is only added when you are ready to blow up something.
That being said the manufacturing of any explosive is extremely dangerous and handled with extreme caution, and still from time to time accidents occur (usually these are in fireworks plants handling fire sensitive black powder maybe with less stringent regulation; producing C4 is dangerous during the process but the finished product won’t accidentally explode, and producing sensitive explosives is done in smaller quantities and with great care and very strict regulations due to the extreme risk).
You ever strike a zippo? That’s basically how grenades work. You have to really mean it to set one off traditionally
Modern explosives need something to set them off, without the initiator they are inert and can be handled perfectly safely without any danger of an explosion, some even can be eaten.
Explosives don’t explode out of nowhere. Every reaction needs some energy to initiate the reaction and, apart from some materials such as white phosphorus, every of those energies is higher than the energy of room temperature.
Some explosives need Oxygen, if you produce these at high temperatures you always produce them in environments without oxygen.
The explosives factory you normally hear about self destructing is fireworks factories. They work with *alot* of gunpowder and use careful manufacturing processes to minimize the chance of an accident. but when you have that much gun powder laying around (not casually laying around either), leaks and spills do occur. and they do get cleaned up, but by hand. so gun powder collects in all sorts of strange places you would never expect to see. So you suddenly have an entire building that has a light coating of gun powder everywhere, so any accident is a fatal accident. you can google for “fireworks factory explosion” to see the results when on of these buildings “has an accident”
Latest Answers