What is RDX? Due to the fact that different names are used for this substance in different countries, answering this question is not as simple as it seems at first glance. TNT RDX is an explosive in a C-4 plastic explosive bag. RDX is stable in storage and is considered one of the most energetic and powerful military explosives.
Other names and history
RDX is also known, but less commonly, as cyclonite, RDX (especially in English, French, German), T4, and chemically as cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine. In the 1930s, the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich began research into cyclonite for use against German submarines, which were being built with thicker hulls. The goal was to develop explosives more energetic than TNT. For security reasons, the UK named the cyclonite research institute the Explosive Research Department (R. D. X.). The term RDX appearedin the United States in 1946. They do not know what hexogen is, because this word for RDX is used almost exclusively in Russian. First public reference in the United Kingdom to the name RDX or R. D. X. to use the official name appeared in 1948; its sponsors were the managing chemist, ROF Bridgewater, Chemical Research and Development, Woolwich and Director of Royal Munitions, Explosives; again, this substance was simply called RDX.
Application
The bomber internals used in the Daidusters Raid contained 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg) of Torpex. The Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs designed by Wallis also used Torpex.
RDX is believed to have been used on many bombs, including terrorist bombs.
RDX was used by both sides in World War II. The US produced about 15,000 tons per month during World War II and Germany about 7,000 tons per month. RDX had the big advantage of having more explosive power than the TNT used in World War I, and it didn't require any additional raw materials to make it.
Opening
Hexogen was created in 1898 by Georg Friedrich Henning, who received a German patent (Patent No. 104280) for its manufacture by nitrolysis of hexamine (hexamethylenetetramine) with concentrated nitric acid. This patent mentioned the medicinal properties of the substance; however, three more German patents received by Henning in 1916 described hexogen assubstance suitable for use in smokeless propellants. The German military began research into its use in 1920, referring to it as RDX. The results of research and development were not published until Edmund von Hertz, described as an Austrian and later German citizen, received a British patent in 1921 and a United States patent in 1922. Both patent applications were examined in Austria. British patent applications included the production of RDX explosive by nitration, its use with or without other explosives, as an explosive charge, and as a detonator. The US patent application was for the use of a hollow explosive device containing RDX and a detonator cap containing RDX. In the 1930s, Germany developed improved methods for the production of RDX.
Third Reich
During the Second World War, Germany used the names W S alt, SH S alt, K-method, E-method and KA-method for different types of RDX. These names represented the identifiers for the developers of the various chemical routes for RDX. The W-method was developed by Wolfram in 1934 and gave RDX the code name "W-Salz". He used sulfamic acid, formaldehyde and nitric acid. SH-Salz (SH s alt) was obtained from Schnurr, who developed a batch process for the synthesis of hexogen in 1937-1938. based on hexamine nitrolysis. The K-method from Keffler involved adding ammonium nitrate to the process of creating explosives. The E-method developed by Ebel turned out to be identical to those described above.methods.
Explosive projectiles fired by the MK-108 cannon and R4M rocket warhead, used in the Luftwaffe fighter as offensive weapons, used RDX as their explosive base. The reader can see the RDX formula in the picture below.
UK
In the United Kingdom (Great Britain), the RDX was manufactured from 1933 by the research department at the pilot plant at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, London, and at the larger pilot plant built at RGPF W altham Abbey near London in 1939. In 1939, a two-component industrial plant was designed to be installed on a new 700-acre (280 ha) site, ROF Bridgwater, away from London, and RDX production began in the city of Bridgwater at one site in August 1941.
The ROF Bridgwater plant used both ammonia and methanol as feedstock: the methanol was converted to formaldehyde and some of the ammonia was converted to nitric acid, which was concentrated in RDX production. The rest of the ammonia was reacted with formaldehyde to give hexamine. The hexamine plant was built by Imperial Chemical Industries. It included some features based on US (USA) data. RDX was prepared by continuously adding hexamine and concentrated nitric acid to a chilled mixture of hexamine and nitric acid in a nitrator. The composition of RDX did not change. RDX was purified and processed as intended; was also restored andreuse of methanol and nitric acid. The hexamine nitration and RDX treatment plants have been duplicated to provide some insurance against product loss due to fire, explosion or air attack.
The United Kingdom and the British Empire fought without allies against Nazi Germany until mid-1941 and had to be self-sufficient. At that time (1941) Britain had the capacity to produce 70 tons (71 t – 160,000 pounds) of RDX per week; both Canada and the US were considered clients for supplies of ammunition and explosives, including RDX. By 1942, the RAF's annual requirement is estimated to have been 52,000 tons (53,000 tons) of RDX, most of which came from North America (Canada and the United States). The model of RDX formula is in the picture below.
Canada
In Canada, they have long known what hexogen is. In this country, another method of producing this explosive was found and used, possibly in the department of chemistry at McGill University. This method was based on the reaction of paraformaldehyde and ammonium nitrate in acetic anhydride. A British patent application was made by Robert W alter Schiessler (Pennsylvania State University) and James Hamilton Ross (McGill, Canada) in May 1942; The UK patent was issued in December 1947. Gilman claims that the same method of production was independently discovered by Ebel in Germany before Schiessler and Ross, but this was not known to the Allies. Urbansky gives details aboutfive production methods, and he refers to this method as the (German) E-method. Now there are not only more efficient methods for its production, but, in fact, substances are much more powerful than hexogen.
USA
In the early 1940s, the largest US explosives manufacturers, E. I. Pont de Nemours & Company and Hercules, had years of experience in the production of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and were reluctant to experiment with new explosives. The US Army took the same view and wanted to continue using TNT. RDX was tested by the Picatinny Arsenal in 1929 and was considered too expensive and too sensitive. The Navy suggested continuing the use of ammonium picrate. In contrast, the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), which visited the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, believed that new explosives were needed. James B. Conant, Chairman of Department B, wished to continue research in this area. Thus, Conant set up an Explosives Experimental Laboratory at the Bureau of Mines, Brussels, Pennsylvania, using the facilities of the Office of Research and Development (OSRD). The use of RDX was mainly military.
In 1941, a British Tizard mission visited the US Army and Navy departments, and some of the information provided included details of the Woolwich method for producing RDX (RDX) and stabilizing it by mixing it with beeswax. The UK requested that the US and Canada together supply 220 tons (440,000pounds) RDX per day. The decision was made by William P. P. Blandy, Chief of the Bureau of Munitions, and it was decided to adopt the RDX for use in mines and torpedoes. Given the immediate need for RDX, the US combat unit, at Blandy's request, built a plant that immediately copied the equipment and process used at Woolwich. The result of this was the Wabash Ordnance Guard under E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. At that time, the largest plant for the production of nitric acid in the world was involved in these works. The Woolwich process was expensive; for every pound of RDX it took 11 pounds (5.0 kg) of strong nitric acid.
Problem method
By early 1941, the NCRR was studying new processes. The Woolwich process, or direct nitration process, has at least two serious drawbacks: it used large amounts of nitric acid and dissolved at least half of the formaldehyde. One mole of hexamethylenetetramine could give no more than one mole of RDX. At least three labs with no prior explosive experience have been tasked with developing better manufacturing methods for RDX; they were based at the public universities of Cornell, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Werner Emmanuel Bachmann of Michigan successfully developed the "combined process" by combining the Canadian process with direct nitration. The combination process required large amounts of acetic anhydride instead of nitric acid in the old British "vulvist" process. Ideally, the combination process can produce two moles of RDX from eachmole hexamethylenetetramine.
The huge production of RDX cannot continue to rely on the use of natural beeswax for desensitization. Bruceton Explosives' research lab has developed a petroleum-based stabilizer substitute.
Further production
NERC commissioned three companies to develop pilot plants. These were: the Western Cartridge Company, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and the Tennessee Eastman Company, part of Eastman Kodak. At Eastman Chemical Company (TEC), a leading manufacturer of acetic anhydride, Werner Emmanuel Bachmann developed a continuous process to create RDX. The RDX was critical to military operations and its production process was too slow at the time. In February 1942, TEC began making small volumes of RDX at its pilot plant, Wexler Bend, which led to the US government allowing TEC to design and build the Works of Holston Ordnance Works (HOW) in June 1942. By April 1943, the RDX was being produced there. At the end of 1944, the Holston plant and the Wabash Ordnance Plant, which used the Woolwich process, were producing 25,000 short tons (23,000 tons - 50 million pounds) of composition "B" per month.
Alternative process
The Bachmann process for RDX synthesis was found to be more efficient in terms of throughput than the method used in the United Kingdom. This later led to the production of RDX using the Bachmann process.
Result
The United Kingdom's goal in World War II was to use a "desensitized" RDX. In the original Woolwich RDX process, RDX was phlegmatized with beeswax, but later paraffin wax was used based on work done at Bruceton. In the event that the UK was unable to obtain enough RDX to meet its needs, some of the shortcomings in production methods were corrected by replacing amatol, a mixture of ammonium nitrate and TNT. This information will be useful to everyone who still does not know what hexogen is.
