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Iteport No. llNYWLL-GAP-71-C 1

PB :t98 341

TIlE CIlE:\!lC~\LAND .BALLISTIC PROPER,TIES

OF BLACK POWDER

Richard A. Whiting

Government:and.Aeronautical

Products Division

. Honeywell Inc.

.600 Second Street North

. Hopkins, Minnesota

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R ,=,prlnted from:. .

,II Explosives and Pyrotechnic S~I

'Th~ Franklin lnsti~ute Laboratories

. Volume 4,' Number:.s 1, 2. and. 3

Janmxy, Febr1.mry and March 1971

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,~oprO~ucod by

NATIONAL TECHN!CAlINFORMATION SERVICE

Springfield. Va. ·11151

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October 1970 ".' (6. PedorlninA O'...niuliOll <;oU"~ •

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THE CHEMICAL Ar-;DBALLISTIC PROPERTIES OFBLACK POWDER

7. AUlhOl( .. )

Hichard A. WhitinI. P.erlor.iA. Ol'.aniuliola IlcJiC.

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9. PerfOlfttin. Ot.aniulioe Na_ and Acldrna

Honeywell'Inc.600 2nd Street NorthHopkins, Minne sota 55343

1t. Coenan/Grani No,

,3. Type of Rcpon ~ -PcriodCo..~~d

U. SpouofiDjl A.cocy C:lde,

/'50 Supple_filaty Norn Reprinted from "Explosives and Pyrotechnics, \l' Vol. 4iNos. I, 2, '3,Jan., Feb., Mar., 1971, The Franklin Institute Research Laboratories, Philac,lelphia, P .,bv permission of the Editor Gunther Cohn.. " ' . '.

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Pyrotechnics

Explosives

Pyrotechnic Igniters

primers (Explosives)

Black Powde r

Burning Rate ,

Supplierl'l

COIlfpatibility

Degradation

Hygroscopicity

Moisture Content

Ignition

Utilization

17c. l:OSATI Field/Group 19/01t. Oiauiburioo stal._lIt

Available to the public from NTIS. " Distributionlmlimited. ' ,

21. No. 01 ~u

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ACKNO\\'LEDG El'vl ENTS

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I am pleased to aeknowledgetilC assistance of :\Iessrs. Hamilton, Harri::;oo,

Schaff, and Sheffield. Their letters (quoted with permission) to Gunther

, Cohn, ' l-:ditol' of ",Explosives and Pyrotechnics, II and to the author were

extremely valuable in pr'epar:ing this paper. Thanks are also due Mr. Murice

'Bacl:o f Pi(;atinny Arsenal and Mr. Carl Hoberts of Hanley Industries for

inform.ltion incol'poratec! in this paper.

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THE CHEMICAL AND BALLISTIC PROPERTIES OF BLACK 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 imp'ractital to 'duplicate. This paper is ,a review 'of the availa­

bility, stability, and ballistic properties of black powder.

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

E. I. duPont de Nemours & Co., Inr. Canadian Industries Limited, :\lontreal,

also supplies black powder '(Class 1 only) io the L'. S. Arm~', Outside North

America; the Nobel Division of 'Imperial Chemical Industries, Ardeer,

Ayrshire, Scotland, manufaCtures black powder for world-wid!" distribution.

According to DOT regulations, black ;powder is a class A explosi\'e for pur­

poses of shipping, hand~ing, a~d:;toring.,

Black po'wder is considered,l1st~ble"',(1, 2, 3, 4) According to Harrison (1),

•"There can be no question that in the absenc~ of moisture black powder is '

extremely 'stable in normal cond~tio,ns. 'I a.~ informed th~t until Worlc War I

it was the prccticeof the Fr~nd: Army ,t,o p,r~,s,e~\"e lots of blad: powder which

had' proved especiallj.' g00d"for usc' iJ}~ime t~qin, fuzes and it was reported

'that some lots so pres~r\{ed date,d fr:om Napol.eonic times. During the

Williamsburgreccnst~uttionbeg.in!1ing"in'lf?26; ,unexploded Civil War shell

loaded with black pO'wder ,vere t;;e~rt~edfro~.ti~~ to tirre,< and ,oft'en were

found with the black powder iJ~ them still'in go'od, condition. Ii

Ellern (5) give!:l addition~l i~Sig'ht in~o thesta~ility ~l~ci uses' of br'ack pO\vde~.. liThe advantag0s of black po\vder 'are ~r~at sen~itivity to igr.ition even' at,low

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

Thedisadvantages are hygroscopicity and !lmi,ted stability, excessh;e flash

and smoke, undesira,ble solid residue, difficulty in c~ntro!1ingburning'rate,

poor burning quaHties under diminished pressure, a,nd, fi~aih:, limited

supply." According to 'S~effield (2), "I,n 'the~bsenc~ of mOist~re, 'black

powder is of a high order ofstabiiity" its ingredients being essentially. n.on-

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l'eactive with ea('hother even at 12fr'C. However, the heating of black

powder auo\'C 7We (l58°F) results in ,,!-change in composition or uniformity

of cc mpositiondue to the volatility of .sulfur above 70"C. II,

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Hygroscopidty and moisture content are vitally linked to the stability of'

black powder. Ellern (5) gives the equilibrium water content of black'

powder as follows (80C F): o. 2-.0.. 6% at 20- 60% relative humidity and 1. 0-1. 5%

at 80-900/0 relative humidity. l\HL-P-223B llPowder, Black" (for.elass 7)

allows 0, 7% maximum moisture content. Sheffield (2) indicat~s acceptable

stability at O. 70/0 moisture content. It is i,nteresti"ng to note that. data in

NOLR 1111 (6) suggest that the ir,nitabili.ty of black p()wder peak~ afabout

1% moisture 'content. Satisfactory ignition has been obtained in aspeciflc

application invol ving 'I threshold conditions" up to about' 30/0 moisture content(7) , . ' . .

Numerous techniques may be employ~d to measure the moisture (or volatile)

content of black powder. Typical ,procedures, are "Volatiles (oven method) "-,'

and "Volatiles (vacuum method)" described in MIL-STD-1234 "Pyrotechnics:

Sampling, Inspection and Testing" o!:' the procedures specified in MIL-P,..223

"Powder, Black."· Development, of an "NMR Transient Moisture MeteI'll' for

measurements ov.er the t:ange O~ 1 to 1. 3% moisture ~ontent was recently

reported OJ) Black powder reacts with many mat~rials, a condition aggra'"

vated by. moisture. Consideration of compatibility with other materials is

essential for any design'incorporating black powder. Considerable compati­

bility dat~ are available and ca~ be found in the r~ferences cited withthis

paper, particularly Re(erence t"2 .

Sporting black powder is readily ::tvailable. However, it is diW,cult to

obtain deirelopmental quantities of black powde~certifiedtolVIIL-P-223.

It appears that .:;porting black powder FFFFG is glazed while the MIL-P-223

counterpart, L e.Class 7, is 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..Aerojet-General

Corp. designers used blade powder ii1the cpU-12!B clLlster. Recently,'

black powder was used inth~ BLU-48!B munition design (7). Hamilton (3)

'~tatE::s that !I Black powder has heen used as the intermediate chargE; in impulse

cartridges suchas the Navy MK9".O and l\1K2-0 Impulse Cartridges. The

black po\vder has been replaf~ed with FA-878 primer mixture in the l\lK9

cartridge idthough the :\lK2-1cartridge still useshlack powder (Class 4). . .

Fine (Class 4) black powder 'is also tl'~ed as a delay element for base detonating

fuzes used in large-caliher Navy guns (5, 8 ahd IG-inch) where millisecond'

delays are' required.' Ce;lI1on (largegrain)type black powder is also used in

. gun primers, that is, ignition systems for- many Navy guns such as the 3, 5,

8, and 16-inch weapons.", The U. S. Army 'uses 'blact{ pO'.vuer in numerous

applications such as if;nitersfor 'propelling charges :\13 and 1\'14Al for155mm

howitzers and propelling charge 1\186 series -for 175mm gun cannen, the latter

requiring nearly one pound for ead, round.

Perhaps the main reason that blat'k powder is considered for ne\~' designs is

i.ts l'elatively high burning rate at low pressure and small pressm'e burn­

rate exponent. Burn-rate data are gi ven in References 9 and 11. A relation. /

that has proven satisfactory for Rrcdicting pe.'rformance \vith a Honeywell

internal -""allistics c~mputer prog;ani is~' : 0.133 pO. 325 ....{here l' : rat.e

(in! sec) and p': pressL,re (psia). Experimental data indicate that ':\VO ex-

. pressions for burn rate are necessary for' compreh~n3ivecalculaEonsdue to

an observed transition in the region of 100 psia. Powders prGducedby.

different manufacturers exhibit different ballistic properties.

Available single and double b8.se propellants, even porous '.' we Biank, n do

not burn satisfar:torily at low pressures compared with black powder. Alter".

natives to black powder, in su~h-;applications, h8.v~ not proved superior.

However, the pyrotechnic-propellant compositions that s~em to approximate'

black powder are typically based on ZrlNH 4ClO 4 or Zr!:KCI04, both

agglomerated with a binder such as .1itrocellulose or double-base propellant. .

in solvent, and then screened to produce' granules. T:le addition of a small

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2011nt of anlOl'phc)lls bor'on (:\11 L- B-51 092) to fine flake double-base

'propellant (.\1:1) also seemed to hcrcase bu:".ning rate at low presHure b a

level <.lpPt'oxirnatin.~ blacK powder' in one experiment.

l\lany either's have invest~gated substitutes for black powder: Perhaps one

of the most succes"ifu1 substitutions 'has been the use of compositions such

as H/K.NO., pellets for solid-propellant rock~t igniters. Hamilton (3),) . .

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 ssium perchlorate mixture (60% Zr + 40% KC 104) with very

satisfactory results," The dPla'y compositions that have.. replaced black

powder' are well known.

The lJ. S. Army is the prilna~'Y consumer of black powder in the U.S. Their

procurement in 196'1. ann 1968 was over 4, 000, 000 poumlls per year, about

1, 500, 000 pounds in 1969, arid. in 1970 is pl'Edicted to rnm 800, 000 pounds.

Annual procurement by others,includi~gthe U. S. NaV)·u is estimated to be

about 25 percel'!.t of the C. S, Arm~ figure1'!"

Some concern has bee~ express~dov;er:theayailabilitY4 partfcularly the,... '. '. . . .. . ..... . (10)

future availability, of black powdec'.· .As ·Ca·rl L Roberts reported ,

· liThe military' requir.-,nnehts·for bi<i~k p'owd"er have no1!:rdliminished nearly so

· f~st in the past sever~"l y~ar~·a:s·:tl~cab~ndOh~etltof pruduction by private

manufacturers.. Annual'~ilitaryrequir'errie!>ts may run to 'millions' of

poimds, and Or'dnance desir,~d to record (l,:'l much as _pos~ible of the pro­

ducer's art against the day when production by indepenitent manufacturers

· may·.cease. II AndH .....mi1t9n (3) .stated, "There has been ~ short;-tge pfblack

powder the last year or hV'O because of the Vtetnam wall' but this t'i'o dc'..;bt has

eased in recent months. sin~~Na...; w&rfare' has bee~ curtailed. II Th~.u. s. .Army has not 'reported a' shortage of"black po,vrl,er.· Rather,- concern

has b~en expre~sed over a' shortage of ~uppliers'in the U. S.. since the

recent closing 'of the :A.ustin PO\vder Cqmp:l.ny, Clevelamd, 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:iture ce-ntent. Even mm'e curious are the

results of ~ieetr0staticsensiti\'ity test's conducted at the BUlR-eau of Mines,

(14): IIMoist black powder (up to 7% m'oisture) is more sensiitrive than dry:• ..<

black powder when tested tinder partial' conf5nement. •• It ...

A discussion of blac',; PQ\:der can not be complete wittout anecd~tal refer~

ence to ep.rlier tim€s when the ter~gunpowderwas synonymous':with. ' .' ~ .

black powder. "TJ-,e 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 burnedawav was considered proof that the, . '.- ,,(i5) . ,

whiskey did not contain too much water' •

Finally, thereferences with this paper would not be comp'lI.<ete without in­

cluding the excellent discussion of the chemistry, banisti\c$~ and rr.anu­

facture of black powder by Urbanski (16) .

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HEFERENCES

(1) Harrison, t~. fl., Senior Technical Advisor, "The American Rifleman,uWashington, D;C'., private communication, February 12, 19'70:

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(?' Sheffield, Oliver E •• ExplosIves Hesearch Chemisl. ExploFlives Lab., .FHL Picatinny Arsenal, DOver, N.J., private cC\J1ununication, Oe­

'cember10, 1968.. . .

(3) IIamiltc,il, Leon 0., C~mden Manufacturing Co., Camden Ark.,private communication, December 31,196:. (Mr. Hamilton iscurrently associated with Fairfield Scient. :ic Corp., Rockaway, N.. J. ).

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(4) Srhaaf, H. L., Technical Hepresentati'."t:, E. I. duPont deNemours &Co., In<:., Pompton Lakes, N. J., .prlvatt~ communica,hon,JanuarY0i1'970. . .

(5) Ellern, H., l\lodern ·pYrot~chnics. Chemical Publishing Co., Inc;,N. Y., 1961. . (Latest edition~\liHtary'and Civiliallll Pyrotechnics,1968).

(6) Ol'dnance Explosives Train J.)esigne~s' Handbook, U. S. NavalOrd­nance Laboratory, Silver Spring, Md., NOLH 1111, April 1952(AD-029 151).

(7) Whiting, R. A~, "Improved Munition Effectiveness ThrO'ugh Minia-·turized ExplOSive Technology, " American Ordnance AssociGl.!'ion,

··Military Pyrotechl:lr.S Section Meeting, June 4, 1969. pr. 22; 23(AD-864 958). .

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(8) Military Explosives, Dept. of the Army TM9-130~-214, Dept. of theAir Force '1'0-1 L~1-34. Noveinber 1967. .

(9) Fedoroff, B. T., and O. E. Sheffield, Encyclopedia of Explosives and. Helated Items, Vol. 2, Picatinny Arsenal, Dover. N. J., PATR 2700, .

1962 (AD-422 747) ..

(10) Roberts, Carl L., Description of Manufacture for Black Powder,Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp., Explosives Division, East AltQn,Ill., Contract DA-23-072-0RD-757; October 31. 1954. (Mr. Robertsis currently associated with Hanley Industries Inc., St. LoUis, Mo.).

(11) Shicilovsky, A. A., "Fundamentals of Pyrotechnics, 11 a translation,Picatinny Arsenal, Doy:~r, N. J., TlVI 1615, May 19G5 (AD-462 474).

(12) Sheffield, O. E., II Compilation of Data Relative to the Effects ofl\laterialE. Other Than ~lastics on t}:le Properties of Explosives ofMilitary Interest, " PicatinnyArsenal, Dover, N.J., Technical Re- .port i7tl3, November 1950, pp. .115.;164 (ATI -HlJ0773)..

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

(14) Brown, F. W., et aI, "Sensitivity ~f Explosives to ~;;.::~-ation by Electro­static Discharge,"U. S. Departm~ntof the Interior, BllVreau of Mil'.es,ReportNb: 5002, ~eptember1953, p. 5. ..

(15) . Noller, C. R., . Chemistry of OrganiC Compound~, 2n;:ll Ed., W. B.Saunders Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1957, p. 95.

(16) Urbanski, Tadeusz, Chemistry and Technology of Explosives, VoLIII, Pergamon Press, N. Y., 1967, pp.322 ... 364 .

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