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.