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Is nitrocellulose a high explosive?

Can this answer :

"When dry, nitrocellulose is explosive and can be ignited with heat, spark, or friction. An overheated container of dry nitrocellulose is believed to be the initial cause of the 2015 Tianjin explosions."


Yoda
 
Nitrocellulose is most certainly a high explosive . It comes in many forms including cordite & gun cotton .
 
Nitrocellulose was used in many purposes, not only as explosive, before plastics were in use. In 1950's we had combs and buttons made of nitrocellulose. They burned pretty well ;) Also early movie- and photo films were produced from nitrocellulose.
 
Taken from this web site http://ernestlancaster.com/www.ErnestLancaster.com/Blog/Entries/2011/10/28_how_a_bullet_fires.html

I myself burnt gun powder leftovers, it did not explode, it burnt rapidly.
There is a legal difference between "highly flammable" and "highly explosive". Akin to "explosion" vs "detonation". Regular petrol is flammable, but when burnt in confined highly restrictive spaces, it becomes explosive.

The primer is a small sparking charge. It is a little circle located on the flat end of most shell casings in the center. When the shooter pulls the trigger, the firing pin on the hammer strikes the primer and creates a spark.
The spark of the primer ignites the gunpowder, packed into the shell casing below the bullet. And the gunpowder does not explode; it burns with incredible speed.isThe primer is a small sparking charge. It is a little circle located on the flat end of most shell casings in the center. When the shooter pulls the trigger, the firing pin on the hammer strikes the primer and creates a spark.
The spark of the primer ignites the gunpowder, packed into the shell casing below the bullet. And the gunpowder does not explode; it burns with incredible speed.a small sparking charge. It is a little circle located on the flat end of most shell casings in the center. When the shooter pulls the trigger, the firing pin on the hammer strikes the primer and creates a spark.

The spark of the primer ignites the gunpowder, packed into the shell casing below the bullet. And the gunpowder does not explode; it burns with incredible speed.

https://www.quora.com/Does-a-fully-filled-petrol-tank-really-lead-to-an-explosion-when-its-exposed-to-high-temperatures
 
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In Ottawa we have a city run composting program. The bags are made of a paper bag on the outside, and the inside is some form of nitrocellulose, but it is clear. It's not as flammable as this stuff though. Interesting!
 
IMHO the topic of the article is not about technical data or chemical and explosive properties.
In the school I was told that nitrocelulose is a low explosive as in the open (normal barrometric pressure) it does burn violently but does NOT detonate.
The handling and transport in the EU is regulated by the ADR norm.
BTW explosives flegmatized with water or alcohol are considered as group 3 or 4, not as explosives (group 1).

I leave the political questions out of this.

Bob
 
Agreed with Nabob. Nitrocellulose is a propellant, not a high explosive. The more you confine it, the faster it burns but it does not detonate. The percussion cap of a small arms round or of a percussion primer or tube as used in artillery ammo contains a tiny amount of primary detonating composition, eg Mercury Fulminate. Its only purpose is to produce enough flash and flame to ignite the propellant in the small arms round or the gunpowder / burning composition in the artillery primer or tube. Some of the more modern propellants such as in some tank gun ammunition actually contain a proportion of high explosive, however it is desensitised by the more conventional low explosive proportion of the propellant and therefore will not detonate. As I understand it, the high explosive has more energy and therefore contributes to a higher muzzle velocity and flatter trajectory. The trade-off is that if it turns out to be hotter burning, then barrel life will reduce. Around the time I left, .50" ammo was reclassified from Hazard Division (HD) 4 to HD 3, simply because of the amount of propellant, while smaller calibres remained in HD 4.
 
I don't really like to get into this discussion, because it will not lead anywhere. There are many different points of view, technical and political. Fact is, there are many different types of Nitrocellulose, that differ in their grade of nitration. Highly nitrated, so called guncotton, around 13 % of Nitrogen, can detonate, if boosted high enough. Remember the 19th century early torpedoes and navy demolition charges : 1.small detonator 2. a little dry guncotton 3. big charge of wet guncotton. The problem in the US is political. The propellant in modern small arms cartridges is so called "double" and "triple" based propellant. The main constituent is guncotton, then Nitroglycerin and third quite a few different moderators. There will be only a handfull of US companies that compound their own propellants and they I expect do have the required lincence anyway. It's the dealers and endusers (reloaders) that will face great problems if Nitrocellulose based propellants (gunpowder) will be classed as a high explosive.
Bellifortis.
 
I think we now talk about two things: Gun cotton ( Pyroxyline ) was used as high explosive. But the same thing was solved in acetylene/alcohol and dried afterwards was used in gun powder which was no longer high explosive.

Edit: Politician decisions are not from this world. Politicians may said whatever they thinks.
 
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Good . We have established that guncotton [nitrocellulose] is HE . One other small point somebody might be able to clear up for me , when did cordite based propellants become known as "gunpowder" ? I admit to being fairly old but I seem to remember back in the 50's we would be severely admonished if we used that term for anything other than black powder . Just asking . Thanks .
 
What you said is generally true for single and triple based propellants. But there are exceptions with double based propellants. Also, I have never heard of a case where this has been used as a HE for nefarious purposes anywhere in the world.
Bellifortis.
Tmine35 said:
I think we now talk about two things: Gun cotton ( Pyroxyline ) was used as high explosive. But the same thing was solved in acetylene/alcohol and dried afterwards was used in gun powder which was no longer high explosive.

Edit: Politician decisions are not from this world. Politicians may said whatever they thinks.
Click to expand...
 
At least Russia used Pyroxyline as HE before 1917, in hand grenades, sea mines, demolition blocks...
 
If I remember rightly, wasn't the initial discovery of the shape charge effect because of the imprint of the manufactures logo embossed in the block of nitro cellulose transferred to the steel plate target? If you put a cap to it, smokeless powder will detonate. Cheers, Bruce.
 
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