US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Jean P Picard

H William Voigt, Jr

Lawrence W Pell

A castable explosive containing TNT, which in solidified form is essentia free from oil exudation and voids and can be remelted and reused without loss of homogeneity and explosive properties, is produced by incorporating in the molten TNT explosive a polyurethane elastomer-producing system containing an organic polyisocyanate, a hydroxyl-terminated butadiene polymer liquid resin and an abietyl alcohol.

Cast TNT explosive containing polyurethane elastomer which is free from

Black powder pills of excellent ignition properties are obtained by a simfied process, wherein an aqueous solution of KNO.sub.3 is introduced into an alcoholic medium, such as ethanol, in the presence of finely divided particles of sulfur and wood charcoal and/or carbon black and a small amount of a polyvinyl pyrrolidone, whereby the KNO.sub.3 is precipitated in finely divided form in intimate mixture with the particles of sulfur and carbon. The resulting particulate mixture contains an extremely thin surface film of adsorbed polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and is separated from the liquid and dried. The modified black powder thus obtained can be safely handled in the dry state and compressed into pills possessing ignition properties equivalent to standard black powder granules. The novel process provides excellent particle size control and reproducibility and eliminates time consuming, hazardous steps and special apparatus used in the conventional commercial black powder process.

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Morristown, NJ, United States of America

Jean P Picard