Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of HMX

Nucleation-growth kinetic expressions are derived for thermal decomposition of HMX from a variety of thermal analysis data types, including mass loss for isothermal and constant rate heating in an open pan and heat flow for isothermal and constant rate heating in open and closed pans. Conditions are identified in which thermal runaway is small to nonexistent, which typically means temperatures less than 255 C and heating rates less than 1 C/min. Activation energies are typically in the 140 to 165 kJ/mol range for open pan experiments and about 150 to 165 kJ/mol for sealed pan experiments. Our activation energies tend to be slightly lower than those derived from data supplied by the University of Utah, which we consider the best previous thermal analysis work. The reaction clearly displays more than one process, and most likely three processes, which are most clearly evident in open pan experiments. The reaction is accelerated in closed pan experiments, and one global reaction appears to fit the data well. Comparison of our rate measurements with additional literature sources for open and closed low temperature pyrolysis from Sandia gives a likely activation energy of 165 kJ/mol at 10% conversion.