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THE CHENICAL At-..rn BALLISTIC PROPERTIES OF BLACK pm-mER

Iteport No. llNYWLL-GAP-71-C 1

PB :t98 341

TIlE CIIi~:\!lC~\L AND .BALLISTIC PROPER,TIES OF BLACK POWDER

Richard A. Whiting Government" and Aeronautical

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Products Division , Honeywell Inc .

. 600 Second Street North 'Hopkins, Minnesota

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R ,:,prlnted from:

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,II Expro sives and Pyrotechnic s" 'The Franklin Institute Laboratories , Volume 4,'Number:_s 1, 2, and 3 Januar-y, Febr-uar-y and March t 971

Reproduced From Best Available Copy

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~oprO~ueod by

NATIONAL TECHN!CAl INFORMATION SERVICE

Springfield, ve. ,12151

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\3. Typ~ of ReP«' ~ ·Period Co .. lind

loaive s an chnics, Vol. 4iNos. I, 2, '3,

Institute Research Laborator-ies, Phi ladelphia,

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The chemical and ballistic properties of bl~ckpowder are' de sczibed in terms of storage stability. hygroscopicity, ignition sensitivity; compatibility with other materials, ana burning rate. Inror matir-n is included on uses and users of black powder and sources 'of supply. Substitutes for black powder are briefly discussed. Extensive references are

cited. ..

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Pyrotechnics Burning Rate
Exp-losives Supplfer-s
Cornpatibfltty
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Pyrotechnic Igniters De gradation
primers (Explosives) Hygroscopicity
Black Powder Moisture Content
17b. Id.nllli.re I~n-E!ldecl T.,. •. Ignition
: Utilization 17c. l:OSATI Field/Group 19/01

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ACK NOWIXDG El'vl ENTS

I am pleased to acknowledge the assistance of Me s s r-a. Hamilton, Ha r r-i son, Schaff, and Sheffield. Their letters (quoted with permission) to Gunther Cohn, ' l':ditor of ,. Explosives and Pyrotechnics, " aIld to the author were

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extremely valuable in pr-epar-ing this paper. Thanks are also due Mr. Mur ice

. Bact: Of Pi(;atinny Arsenal and Mr. Carl Hoberts of Hanley Industries for inform.ltion il1('ol'porateci i n't h i s paper.

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THE CHEMICAL AND BALLISTIC PROPERTIES OF BL;\CK POWDER

Black powder is not favored \_,:1 I~10st engineers for use in new designs. Still, there are instances where the unique ballistic properties of black powder are .difficult or lmpr-act iba l to 'duplicate. This paper is ,a review 'of the availability, stability, and ballistic properties of black powder.

In the United States, sporting and military black powder is manufactured by

E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inc, Canadian Industries Limited, Xlontr eal , also supplies black powder '(Class 1 only lto the L'. S. Army, Outside North America; the Nobel Division of 'Imperial Chemical Industries, Ar de e r , Ayrshire, Scotland, manufactur e s black powder for wor-ld-wide distribution. According to DOT regulations, black .powde r is a class A explosive for pur-

poses of shipping, hand.mg, and:3toring., ,

Black powder is considered,l1st~ble"I, (1, 2, 3, 4) According to Harrison (1),

.11 There can be no question that in the ab se nce of moisture black powder is ' extremely stable in normal condittons. 'I arn informed th~t until Worle War I it was the pr rct iceof the Fr-ench Army ,t,o pr ese.rve lots of black powder which had' proved e spe c ia.Ily gc>od"for usc' iJJ '~ime t~qin, fuzes and it was reported

. that some lots so pr-e se.rved date,d f rorn Napoleo ni c times. During the

Williamsburg r-aconst.ructton beginping"in'lf?2S: ,unexploded Civil War shell

loaded with black powder wer-e t;;e~rt~edfro~ .ti~~ to tirre,< and .oft'en were found with the black powder iJ~ them st il Lin good condition. Ii

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Ellern (5) gives addition~l i~Sig'ht in~o .thesta~ilitY ~l~ci uses' of black pO\vde~. . liThe advantage-s of black powder ·are gr-eat senait i vity to igr.ition even atIow

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temperature, economy, multiplicity ~f uses .. and relati'''e safety in handli:1g.

The disadvantages are hygroscopicity and l i rn it e d stability, exce s stve flash and smoke, undesi rnbl e solid residue, difficulty in contr-ol li ng bur-ntngr-ate, poor burning qualities under dimi~ished pressure, and, fi~aih:, limited supply." According to 'Sheffield (2), "In 'the ab se nce of mOist~re, 'black powder is of a high order ofstabtltty, its ingredients being essentially. n.on-

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r e act ivc with each other even at 12fr'C. However, the heating of black powder aDO';'£! 70°C (158°F) results in ~change in composition or uniformity of cc mposition .du e to the volatility of .sulfur above 70"C. II,

:\1 Hygr-oscop ic ity and moisture content are vitally linked to the stability or

black powder. Ellern (5) gives the equilibrium water content of black' powder as follows (80C F): O, 2-.0; 60/0 at 20- 60% relative humidity and 1. 0-1. 5% at 80-900/0 relative humidity. l\lIL-P-223B "Powder, Black" (for. Class 7) allows O. 7"/0 maximum moisture content. Sheffield (2) indicat~s acceptable stability at 0.70/0 moisture content. It is i.nterestfng to note that. data in

NOLR 11] 1 (6) suggest that the i[,nHabili.ty of black powder peaks at about

1 % moisture 'content. Satisfactory ignition has been obtained in aspeciflc applicatiori involving "threshold conditions" up to about'3% moisture content

(7) . .

Numerous t echniqu e s may be employed to measure the moisture (or volati~e) content of black powder. Typical .proceduresare " Volatiles (oven method) ". and "Volatiles (vacuum method)" described in MIL-STD-1234 "Pyrotechnics:

Sampling, Inspection and Testing" or the procedures specified in MIL-P,..223

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"Powder, Black."· De ve lop rn ent- of an "NMR Transient Moisture Meterll" for measurements over the t:ange 0; 1 to 1.'3% moistur econtent wasrecenUy ..

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reported o.J Black powder reacts with many mat~rials, a condition aggr a-

vated by. moisture. Consideration of compatibility with other materials is essential for any design 'incorporating black powder. Considerable compatibility data are available and can be found in the references cited with this paper, particularly Re(erence t"2 .

Sporting black powder is readily available. However, it is diW.cult to obtain developmental quantit ie s of black powde~certified tolVIIL-P-223.

It appears that spor-ting black powder FFFFG is glazed while the MIL-P-223 counterpart, i. e. Class 7, i~not. There may be other differences between commercially available black powder and black powder procured to the military specification.

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Use of black powder in new designs is.not widespread. Ae rojet=Ge ne ra l Corp. designers used black powder in-the CpU-12/B c lu st ar-, Recently,· black powder was used in the BLU-48!B munition design (7). Hamilton (3)

'~tatE::s that "Black powder has he e n used as the intermediate char-ge in impulse cartridges such as the Navy MK9.,.O and MK2-0 Impulse Cartridges. The black powde r has been r-eplaced with FA-878 primer mixture in the MK9 cartridge although the :\lK2-1cartridge still u se sbl ack powder (Class 4)

'Fine (Class 4) black powder 'is a l s ou se d as a delay element for base detonating fuzes used in large-caliber Navy guns (5, 8 and IG-inch) where millisecond' delays are' required.' Ce nno n (large grain) type black powder is also used in

.gun primers, that is, tgnttton ayste rnsIor-rnany Navy guns such as the 3, 5, 8, and 16-inch weapons.". The U. S. Army 'uses 'bl ac« powde r in numerous applications such as ignit er-aIor 'propelling charges :\13 and M4Al for155mm howitzers and propelling charge M8G series 'for 175mm gun carmen, the latter requiring nearly one pound for eacl. round.

Perhaps the main reason that b la ck powder is considered for ne w designs is its r-e lat ively high bur n i ng ra:te at low pressure and small pressm'c bur-nrate exponent. Burn-rate data are gi ven in References 9 and 11. A relation'

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that has proven satisfactory for predicting perfo r mance with a Honeywell

internal .. a ll i st ic s c~mputer prog;ani is~' ::. 0.133 pO. 325 .. vhe r e I' ::. r-ate (inl sec) and p> pr e ssur e (p s i a ). Experimental data indicate that ",\VO ex-

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. pressions for burn rate are necessary for comprehensive ea lcu lattonsdue to

an observed transition i n t h e region of 100 psia. Powders pr-oducadby . different manufacturers exhibit different ballistic properties.

Available single and double base propellants, even porous "we Biank," do not burn sat i sfa cto r-i ly at low pressures compared with black powder. Alter:natives to black powder, in suc h.appl icat.ious, have not proved superior. However, the pyrotechnic-propellant compositions that seem to approximate' black powder are typically based on z-! NH i::: 104: or z- ts«: 104, both agglomerated with a binder such as .rit r-oce Ilulo se or double-base propellant

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in solvent, and then screened to produce' granules. TIle addition of a small

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;> .ount of n mo i-phou s bor-on Oil L- B-51 092) to fine flake double-base 'propellant (.\1:1) also soe mcd t o inc r-ea se bur-ning rate at low pr-e ssur e b a level <lppr'oxirnatin,~ b l ac-k powder' in one experiment.

l\Iany othe rs have i nve st iga t ed substitutes for black powder: Perhaps one of the most succc s sf'ul substitutions 'has been the use of compositions such as H/K.NO., pellets for solid-propellant rock~t igniters. Hamilton (3)

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reports that ... ,"black powder'has been replaced with FA--878 primer

mixture in the l\lK9 cartridge... . The FA-878 was in turn replaced with a zirconium-pota s sium perchlorate mixture (60% Zr + 40% KC 104) with very satisfactory results." The delay compositions that have.r eplaced black powder' are well known.

The U. S. Army is the pr Imary consumer of black powde r in the U.S. Their procurement in 196'( ann 1968 was over 4, 000, 000 pounds per year, about

1, 500, 000 pounds in 1969. arid in 1970 is pr-e di ct ed to rnm 800, 000 pounds. Annual procurement by others,includi~g the U. S. Navy, is estimated to be about 25 per-cent of the C. S. Arm~ f igur e s

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Some concern has bee~ express~do'v;er:the ayailabilitY4 partIcularly the

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future availability, of black powder- .. .AsCar-l L Roberts reported •

· "The military' r-equi r.cm ent sfor' bi<i~k powder' have notdrmintshed nearly so

· f~st in the past aever-at Y,ears'a's':Uic abandohmept of pruduction by private manufacturers .. Annual 'military r-equir-ements may run to 'millions' of pound s, and Or-dnance de str cd to record a,~ much aspos;;ible of the producer's art against the day when production by Independent manufacturerS

· may' cease. " AndH ..... milton (3) ,stated, "There has been a short;-tge of b lack

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powder the last year or two because of the Vtetnam ~.all" but this no dcubt has

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eased in recent months, since Navy war-far-e has been c.urtailed." The

U. S .. Army has not 'reported a shortage of'b la ck po,vd,cl1.· Hather," concern has be en expre~sed over a' shortage of supplter s in. the U. S .. since the recent closing 'of the Au stin PO\vde~ Cqmrany, ClevelaiTl'.l, Ohio., following

an explosion.

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It was previously noted in .this papL't' that black powder appeared most readily ignitableatabout 1% rnoi stur e content. Even more curious are the results of electr-ostatfceenstti v ity test's conducted at the Bunreau of Mines. (14): II Moist black powder (up to 7% moi stur e) is more sensiittive tha ndr'y-

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black powder when tested und er partial" conf'inement. •• It •. ,

A discussion of blac': pov.de r can not be complete without anecd~tal r ere rence to ear l ier' times when the term gunpowder was synonymous :-with black powder. "T'he term pr<?of spirit has its origin in an old method of . testing whiskey by pouring it on some gunpowder and lighting. 'I,g_nition of the gunpowder after the alcohol bur nedawav was considered proof that the

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whiskey did not contain too much water.' •

Finally, the references with this paper would not be complete without including the excellent discussion of the chemistry, banistilc$~. and manufacture of black powder by Urbanski (I6) .

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HEFERENCES

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(1) Har r i s on, t~. fl., Senior Technical Advisor, "The American Rifleman, ", Washington, D; C., private communication, February 12, 19'70:

(?' 'Sheffield, Oliver E., Expl os ive s Research Cherni sf , Explosives Lab" ' FHL Picatinny Arsenal, DOver, N.J., private communicatton, ne'cemberl0, 1968.

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(3) Hami lt on, Leon 0., Camden Manufacturing Co., Camden Ark.,

private communication, December 31,196:. (Mr. Hamilton is currently associated with Fairfield Scient, i.ic Corp. , Rockaway, N.,J. ).

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(4)Sf'haaf, H, L., Technical Rep r e s entat iv c, E. I. duPont deNemours & Co., Inc , , Pompton Lakes, N. J., .pr-iva te communication, Janua ry u, 1'970. '

(5) Ellern, H., J\lodern ,Pyrotechnics, Chemical Publishing Co., Inc; > N. Y., 1961. '(Latest edit ion, _:\liHtary'and CiviliaJ!l) Pyrotechnics, 1968).

(6) Ol'dnance Explosives Train Designers' Handbook, U. S. NavalOrdnance Laboratory, Silver Spring, Md,.; NOLl{ 1111, April 1952 (AD-029 151).

(7) Whiting, R. A~, "Improved Muhit.ionEffectiveness Thr-ough Minia-'

tur iz e d Exp Io srve Technology, " American Or-dnance Assocta+ion, "Military Pyr ot ecburc s Section Meeting, June 4, 1969. pp. 22; 2,3

(AD-864 958). '

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(8) Military Explosives, Dept. of the Army TM9-130:O- 214, Dept. of the

Air Force '1'0-1 L~1-34. Nove mbe r 1967. '

(9) Fedoroff, B. T., and O. E. Sheffield, Encyclopedia of Explosives and

. Related Items, Vol. 2, Picat inny Arsenal, Dover. N. J., PATR 2700, '

1962 (AD-422 747)., '

(10) Roberts, Carl L., Description of Manufacture for Black Powder, Olin l\Iathieson Chemical Corp., Explosives Division, East Alton,

m., Contract DA-23-072-0RD-757i October 31. 1954. (Mr. Roberts is currently associated with Hanley Industries Inc,', St. Louis, Mo.).

(11) Shicilov sky, A. A., II Fundamenta Is of Pyrotechnics, 11 a translation, Picat inny Arsenal, Dover', N. J., TN! 1615, May 19G5 (AD-462 474).

(12) Sheffield, O. E., II Compilation of Data Relative to the Effects of

Ma ter-Ia Is Other Than Pla st ic s on the Properties of Explosives of Military Interest, II PicatinnyArsenal, Dover, N.J., Technical Re- ' port i7tl3, November 1950, pp . .115..;164 (AT1 -HlJ0773). '

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(13) Persyn, G. A. and W. L. Hollivitz, "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Moisture Meter for Explosives, " Southwest Res. In st. , San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1970 (AD-872 348).

(14) Brown, F. W., et al, "Sensitivity ~f Explosives to ~;;.::!:ation by Electrostatic Discharge,"U. S. Depar-tment-of the Interior, Bwreau of Mine s,

Repor'tNo. 5002, Septernber=l Bb S, p. 5. .

(15) Noller, C. R., . Chemistry of OrganiC Compound!,!, 2nd! Ed., W. B.

Saunders Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1957, p. 95.

(16) Urbanski, Ta d eu sz, Chemistry and Technology of Explosives, VoL III, Pergamon Press, N. Y., 1967, pp.322 .... 364 .

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