Abstract A method of preventing explosions in chemical manufacturing plants where inflammable bases or vapours are employed in the presence of air or oxygen is further elucidated and the principle extended to condensed explosives. The relative merits of various inhibitors in varying circumstances are reviewed and the conclusion drawn that the best inhibitors of flame are complex organic substances, often of a highly inflammable nature. The seeming paradox admits of a simple explanation based on thermochemical considerations.
(1923). XXXIX. Energy relations in the high-tension magneto. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 46, No. 273, pp. 386-399.
On detonation, a solid explosive undergoes extremely rapid chemical change with the liberation of a large amount of energy. The rate at which this energy is liberated is governed chiefly by the rate at which the explosive detonates. It is known, however, that the rate of detonation varies with the conditions under which the explosive is fired and is, therefore, presumably dependent on the rate at which the energy liberated on detonation is used up in doing work. It appears, therefore, that the behaviour of, and the results to be obtained from, a detonating explosive under given conditions are intimately connected with its rate of detonation under those conditions are intimately connected with its rate of detonation under those conditions, and that an exact knowledge of the latter is of considerable importance in the study of detonating explosives and their power. The rate of detonation of a solid explosive is usually measured either by the method devised by Mettegang,* or by that due to Dautriche. The former is generally used for lengths of about a metre of explosive. The latter is capable of being used for shorter lengths, but is not an absolute method, as it is dependent on a preliminary determination of the rate of detonation of T. N. T. fuse by the Mettegang method.
Abstract The normal method of eliminating the danger of explosion with mixtures of an inflammable gas and air or oxygen is to render the mixture incapable of flame propagation either by using a large excess of one component or by the addition of an inert diluent. Consideration of the limits of inflammability of mixed gases suggests another and more powerful method, namely, the introduction of an additional inflammable ingredient of a type which has a low upper limit of flame propagation. The hit concentration being measured by volume, suitable additives will normally be characterized by a high molecular weight. A wide choice of such materials is available so that a suitable additive can probably be found to satisfy any specific requirement.
