U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive

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Title: U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive - October 6, 1981.
Author: Stull, Bertram O.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive - October 6, 1981." ***

US Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive

United States Patent [19] [11] 4,293,314

Stull [45] Oct. 6, 1981

[54] GELLED FUEL-AIR EXPLOSIVE METHOD

[75] Inventor: Bertram O. Stull, Ridgecrest, Calif.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as
represented by the Secretary of the
Navy, Washington, D.C.

[21] Appl. No.: 111,453

[22] Filed: Jan. 11, 1980

[51] Int. Cl.^3 ................................ C10L 7/00

[52] U.S. Cl. ............................ 44/7 A; 44/7 R;
44/7 D; 102/90; 102/363

[58] Field of Search ................ 102/90; 44/7 R, 7 E,
44/7 D, 7 A

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

3,539,311 11/1970 Cohen et al. ............. 44/7 A
3,634,157 1/1972 Batson ................... 44/7 E
3,685,453 8/1972 Hawrick .................. 102/90
3,730,093 5/1973 Cummings ................. 102/90
3,795,556 3/1974 Sippel et al. ............ 44/7 E
3,955,509 3/1976 Carlsen .................. 102/90
3,994,696 11/1976 Adicoff .................. 44/7 A
4,157,928 6/1979 Falterman et al. ......... 102/90

_Primary Examiner_--Edward A. Miller

_Attorney, Agent, or Firm_--R. S. Sciascia; W. Thom
Skeer; Lloyd E. K. Pohl

[57] ABSTRACT

1,2-Butylene oxide as a fuel for a fuel air explosive
weapon. The oxide may be used either as a pure liquid
or gelled with a gelling agent such as silicon dioxide,
particulate carbon or aluminum octoate.

3 Claims, No Drawings

GELLED FUEL-AIR EXPLOSIVE METHOD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention 5

This invention relates to fuels for fuel air explosive
weapons. More particularly, this invention relates to a
method for causing an explosion comprising the steps of
dispersing a cloud of liquid fuel in the air and detonating
the cloud wherein the cloud is composed of particles of 10
gelled or ungelled 1,2-butylene oxide.

1. Description of the Prior Art

Fuel air explosive weapons are now well known. A
typical example of one is depicted in U.S. Pat. No.
3,955,509 which was issued to Gary A. Carlson on May 15
11, 1976.

Fuel air explosive weapons may be described as devices
which, upon activation, cause liquid fuel particles
to be dispersed in the form of a detonable cloud in the
air and then detonate the cloud. 20

A number of fuels have been used in fuel air explosive
weapons. Among these are ethylene oxide and propylene
oxide. Because of the ease with which is cloud of
ethylene oxide or propylene oxide can be detonated,
these two materials are the most commonly used. However, 25
these fuels have certain drawbacks.

One drawback, common to both ethylene oxide and propylene
oxide, is toxicity. Both materials are highly toxic. A
concentration of 50 parts per million of ethylene oxide 30
in the air may have harmful effects on one breathing the
air for about 8 hours. Propylene oxide is less toxic than
ethylene oxide but is still highly toxic. A concentration
of 100 parts per million of propylene oxide breathed for
about 8 hours may have undesirable effects. Naturally,
when fuel air explosive devices are stored in a confined 35
area such as aboard a ship, exposure for 8 hours is not
unusual.

Another drawback common to ethylene oxide and propylene
oxide is the fact that both have relatively low boiling 40
points, 10.4° C. and 34.2° C. respectively. This makes
the two difficult to handle in loading operations.
High vapor pressures also contribute to difficulty in
handling.

A drawback particularly associated with ethylene oxide 45
is its tendency to polymerize during storage. Left
alone in a fuel air explosive weapon or other container,
ethylene oxide tends to self polymerize. The polymerized
material is unsuitable for use as a fuel for a fuel air
explosive device. Unpolymerized ethylene oxide, on the 50
other hand is highly desirable as a fuel insofar as
detonability is concerned. Clouds containing from as
little as 3 up to as much as 100 percent by volume of
ethylene oxide are detonable. The detonation limits of
propylene oxide, on the other hand, range from about
3.1 to about 27.5 percent by volume. 55

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that 1,2-butylene oxide, when
used as a fuel for fuel air explosive devices, exhibits
marked superiority over either ethylene oxide or propylene 60
oxide. The marked superiority stems from the fact that
1,2-butylene oxide is about 3 times safer than propylene
oxide when long exposure to it is required and about
3.5 times safer than ethylene oxide. Insofar as ease
of detonation is concerned, 1,2-butylene oxide has about 65
the same explosive limits as propylene oxide. However,
1,2-butylene oxide is significantly easier to handle
because its boiling point is nearly twice that of
propylene oxide--63° C. as opposed to 34.2° C.--and over
6 times that of ethylene oxide. According to this invention
1,2-butylene oxide may be used in either its natural 5
liquid state or gelled with a hereinafter named gelling
agent.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
EMBODIMENTS 10

In one embodiment of this invention, neat 1,2-butylene
oxide liquid is used as the fuel in a fuel air explosive
weapon in lieu of the previously most commonly used
fuels, ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. It has been
found that butylene oxide is significantly less toxic than 15
either of the two commonly used oxides. Air containing
400 parts per million of 1,2-butylene oxide may be
breathed safely for up to 8 hours with no undesirable
results as compared to 100 parts per million for propylene
oxide and only 50 parts per million for ethylene 20
oxide.

1,2-butylene oxide offers a second distinct advantage
over ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. Its boiling
point is 63° C. as opposed to 10.4° C. and 34.2° C. 25
respectively for the other two oxides. Thus, loading
operations are much easier to carry out. No special
equipment is needed for its handling.

Tests have shown that, insofar as ease of detonation is
concerned, 1,2-butylene oxide is similar to propylene 30
oxide. Its explosive limits range from about 3.1 to 25.1
percent by volume as opposed to 3.1 to 27.5 percent by
volume for propylene oxide. Thus, its significantly
lower toxicity can be taken advantage of with very little
loss in explosive efficiency. 35

Another factor contributing to the ease of handling of
1,2-butylene oxide is its vapor pressure. The vapor
pressure of 1,2-butylene oxide is only 207.0 mm Hg at
25° C. as opposed to 1,292.0 for ethylene oxide and
569.0 for propylene oxide. 40

In a second embodiment of this invention, 1,2-butylene
oxide may be used in a gelled state. It has been
found that, if 1,2-butylene oxide is gelled by adding
about 3 to about 10 weight percent of a gelling agent
such as SiO_2 (Cab-O-Sil), particulate carbon or aluminum 45
octoate, it will still be dispersed into a detonable
cloud by a typical fuel air explosive weapon. This is
perhaps the best mode of practicing this invention for
several reasons. First, the gel is more easily handled
than the neat liquid. Second, if spilled the gel will not 50
disperse as a liquid will.

In storage, no self-polymerization of 1,2-butylene
oxide has been detected. Thus, a warhead loaded with
the material has an indefinite shelf-life.

I claim: 55

1. In a method for producing an explosion comprising the
steps of dispersing a cloud of liquid particles in the
air and detonating the cloud, the improvement residing
in utilizing 1,2-butylene oxide in gel form as said liquid.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said gel consist
essentially of 1,2-butylene oxide and a gelling agent
selected from the group consisting of SiO_2, particulate
carbon and aluminum octoate. 60

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein said gelling
agent is present in an amount in the range of from 65
about 3 to about 10 weight percent.

* * * * *

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "U.S. Patent 4,293,314: Gelled Fuel-Air Explosive - October 6, 1981." ***

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