US Government as Represented by the Secretary of the Army

William S Lukasavage

Steven M Nicolich

Jack Alster

Seymour Portnoy

An improved process of making a highly impact insensitive form of HMX cal Alpha HMX has been accomplished. Test results of insensitive impact from drop heights of 5 to 10 times greater than Beta HMX, the conventional explosive, has been successfully achieved. This accomplishment has been achieved without the addition of any additives, and is attributed to the attainment of small particle size, whole crystals, narrow size distribution, and sample purity.

Process of making impact insensitive Alpha-HMX

The invention provides a continuous moving bed reactor, useful for the prration of 3,7-diacetyl-1,3,5,7-tetraazabicyclo-3.3.1-nonane (DAPT). The reactor makes novel use of water, a known catalyst for said reaction. However, in this invention, the water is present as ice. The ice is made to automatically promote and moderate the reaction as well as regulate the flow of hexamine into the reactor. These automatic functions are achieved by mixing ice with hexamine, the latter is one of two principle reactants used, to generate a standing bed of slurry. When melted at its base, the slurry advanced under the influence of gravity. The melting of the ice being caused by local application of the second principle reactant, acetic anhydride, which is a liquid. The apparatus is constructed in the following way. A tube shaped reservoir for containing the cited slurry is open at the top end and terminates at its bottom end by a porous compartment. The latter compartment openly retains the slurry. A fluid delivery device, i.e. a nozzle, is contained within the porous compartment. The functions of the nozzle is to deliver acetic anhydrid to the hexamine contained in said slurry. The porous compartment is contained within a larger nonporous vessel. The vessel is equipped with a stirrer, an ammonia inlet and a temperature sensing device. This vessel functions as a secondary reaction zone, in which more hexamine, and hece more DAPT, is prepared by an in-situ mechanism commonly known as resynthesis.

Reactor

Nonane

An improvement when 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane is preed by nitrolysis of 1,3,5,7-tetraacyl-1,3,5,7-tetraazaceyloctane with a solution of nitric acid and nitrogen pentoxide or phosphorous pentoxide. This improved process herein before set forth produces 99% yield and purity of product.

Process of producing XMX in 100% yield and purity

1-(n)-acetyl-3,5,7-trinitrocyclotetramethylenetetramine is prepared by nilysis of 1,3,5,7-tetracyl-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane with a solution of nitric acid and nitrogen pentoxide or phosphorous pentoxide.

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Succasunna, NJ, United States of America

William S Lukasavage