Electrostatic Charge Mitigation in the HMX and PETN Explosives Using Paraffin and Conductive Additives

HMX and PETN explosives are the most important and usable explosives in the military and defense industries and possess wide range of applications for military as well as commercial applications. Numerous difficulties are encountered during the processing, conveying and storage of powders which are all attributed to their electrostatic charging. Indeed, charged powders could cause damage ranging from losses in quality and productivity to more severe accidents like explosions. In this study, paraffin / [H.mim][Cl] ionic liquid and paraffin/ lecithin were added to HMX and PETN explosives. Then they were studied by the powder volumetric resistivity test and electrostatic charging test setup. The accumulation of static charge was also measured. The samples were evaluated for further studies in the terms of mixing quality by FE-SEM and EDX analysis. In this work, the amount of reduction in static charge was considerably improved in the HMX and PETN samples, containing paraffin and lecithin was 56.67% and 66%, respectively and thermal stability was 25.15% and 36.15%, respectively. Adding ionic liquid with paraffin to HMX and PETN explosives, the amount of reduction in static charge was significant and was about 106.66% and 100%, respectively.