Development of thermal explosion model on industrial-scale nitrocellulose under adiabatic and non-adiabatic condition

This study investigated the thermal stability characteristics and developed a thermal explosion model for industrial-scale nitrocellulose (NC) using simultaneous thermal analysis, accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) measurements, and kinetics data. The time to maximum rate under adiabatic conditions was approximately 35 min, and the adiabatic temperature rise recorded by the ARC was 70 °C, which indicated that the NC released considerable amounts of heat and gases in an extremely short time. Moreover, an autocatalytic kinetic model of NC decomposition was developed using nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry data. The simulation results (of the thermal explosion model) were consistent with the experimental results (ARC data). Furthermore, the heat radiation effect of external fire sources on NC explosions was also investigated. This study aids the prevention and control of NC explosions and for the development of fire extinguishing technology.