Heats of combustion and formation of nitro-compounds. Part I.—Benzene, toluene, phenol and methylaniline series

Abstract

Abstract The study of the explosive properties of organic nitrobodies is not complete without a knowledge of their heats of formation, for these constants are closely related to their stability and sensitiveness to impact and heat. The heats of formation also form the basis of any calculations of the energy liberated in the detonation of high explosives. The heats of detonation of balanced explosives such as a mixture of ammonium nitrate and trinitrotoluene arranged for complete combustion, can readily be determined from the heats of formation. When there is insufficient oxygen in the explosive for the complete combustion of the hydrogen and carbon it is more difficult to calculate the heat of detonation, especially as the composition of the products is dependent on the external work done by the gases, but from a knowledge of the constants of gaseous and heterogeneous equilibria it is often possible to obtain values with some degree of accuracy. The preliminary work in the production of new explosives can often be considerably shortened by such calculations. The heats of combustion of some of the members of the toluene, benzene and phenol series have been determined by various workers, but there are many gaps in the series, and the agreement in certain cases is unsatisfactory. These results are summarised in Table I.