Furazan Ingredient as a Solution for Slow Cook-Off Insensitive Munitions Tests

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) and its team member Aerojet, propose to mitigate slow cook-off violence by adding a thermally-decomposing trigger to a propellant formulation to provide a benign ignition mechanism for large diameter SRMs. Physical Sciences and Aerojet have identified a potential furazan replacement for ammonium nitrate (AN) which eliminates the significant problems of AN such as hygroscopicity, phase changes/density changes, and performance losses while providing a benign reaction to slow cook-off. The proposed novel furazan-based compound is predicted to have characteristics comparable to AN (density, heat of formation) but have the advantage of decomposition upon melting, thereby allowing for a “burning reaction” in the slow cook-off tests. PSI will provide Aerojet with up to 25 grams of the furazan-based compound for testing of its energetic and thermal properties, sensitivity, and behavior upon slow cook-off in a propellant formulation. On a potential Phase II program, PSI will identify modifications to the proposed compound using established structure activity relationship that will improve the performance of the propellant formulation as well as perform scale-up of the furazan compound.