Claims
- 1. A method of recovering a nitramine from a nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material, said method comprising subjecting the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material comprising aluminum, a nitramine, and at least one binder to treatment in aqueous nitric acid to digest the binder into solution while neither solvating nor solvolyzing into solution at least substantially all of the nitramine, and recovering at least a portion of the nitramine, wherein a weight ratio of the aqueous nitric acid to the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material in the treatment is in a range of about 4:1 to about 6:1, and further wherein not more than 55 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material further comprises at least one plasticizer, and wherein the treatment of the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material further comprises dissolving the plasticizer into solution.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material further comprises at least one plasticizer and at least one inorganic oxidizer, and wherein the treatment of the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material further comprises digesting the plasticizer and the inorganic oxidizer into solution.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least 5 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least 20 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein at least 35 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment of the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material comprises neither solvating nor solvolyzing at least 98% of the nitramine of the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material into solution.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment of the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material comprises neither solvating nor solvolyzing at least 99% of the nitramine of the nitramine-containing aluminized energetic material into solution.
- 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising using digested portions of the energetic material and residual nitric acid as feed stock for commercial blasting agents.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said recovering comprises recovering at least 90 weight percent of the nitramine.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the nitramine comprises at least one member selected from the group consisting of 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraaza-cyclooctane (HMX), 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triaza-cyclohexane (RDX), 4,10-dinitro-2,6,8,12-tetraoxa-4,10-diazatetracyclo-[5.5.0.05,903,11]-dodecane) (TEX), and 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazatetracyclo[5.5.0.05,903,11]-dodecane (CL-20).
- 12. A method of recovering 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraaza-cyclooctane (HMX) from an aluminized energetic material, said method comprising subjecting the aluminized energetic material comprising aluminum, HMX, and at least one binder to treatment in aqueous nitric acid to digest the binder into solution while neither solvating nor solvolyzing into solution at least substantially all of the HMX, and recovering at least a portion of the HMX, wherein a weight ratio of the aqueous nitric acid to the aluminized energetic material in the treatment is in a range of about 4:1 to about 6:1, and further wherein not more than 55 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the aluminized energetic material further comprises at least one plasticizer, and wherein the treatment of the aluminized energetic material further comprises digesting the plasticizer into solution.
- 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the aluminized energetic material further comprises at least one plasticizer and at least one inorganic oxidizer, and wherein the treatment of the aluminized energetic material further comprises digesting the plasticizer and the inorganic oxidizer into solution.
- 15. The method of claim 12, wherein at least 5 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 16. The method of claim 12, wherein at least 20 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 17. The method of claim 12, wherein at least 35 weight percent of the aqueous nitric acid consists of nitric acid.
- 18. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment of the aluminized energetic material comprises neither solvating nor solvolyzing at least 98% of the HMX of the aluminized energetic material into solution.
- 19. The method of claim 12, wherein the treatment of the aluminized energetic material comprises neither solvating nor solvolyzing at least 99% of the HMX of the energetic material into solution.
- 20. The method of claim 12, further comprising using digested portions of the energetic material and residual nitric acid as feed stock for commercial blasting agents.
- 21. The method of claim 12, wherein said recovering comprises recovering at least 90 weight percent of the HMX.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of filing of U.S. provisional application No. 60/188,182 filed in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office on Mar. 10, 2000. The complete disclosure of provisional application 60/188,182 is incorporated herein by reference. In the event that any portion of the provisional application is inconsistent with this application, this application supercedes the provisional application.
US Referenced Citations (17)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Recovery of HMX from Scrap PBX-9404 High Explosive, Technical Report 219, by Ernest E. Leake AEC Operations Division, Oct. 26, 1973. |
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/188182 |
Mar 2000 |
US |