Manufacturing Techniques for Red Phosphorus Powder

Reducing the particle size of red phosphorus may increase its fire retardancy by an order of magnitude. The Navy requires five-micron red phosphorus. Current European production yields thirty-micron phosphorus; there is no commercial production in America. Once produced, further size reduction may cause fires or explosions due to phosphorus sensitivity. TPL will apply four established industrial processes to manufacturing red phosphorus, all having innovative potential to directly produce five-micron particles, eliminating the hazardous step of comminution. The processes include quenching, atomizing, fluidizing, and extruding. TPL will combine its experience with energetic materials and nano-sized particle production to choose the best design for further development. Design packages including PFDs, P&IDs, and SOPs will be generated for each of the four processes. Then a hazard analysis, feasibility study, and cost analysis will be performed. process with the least inherent hazards and most promise will be chosen for further development. TPL is a leading company in applying energetic materials and producing nano-sized material, offering TPL more potential than other companies for successful production of five-micron red phosphorus. TPL has demilitarized 1700 tons of pyrotechnics, selling recovered material commercially. TPL's nano-sized barium titanate is available from Aldrich, Alfa Aesar, and Cerac Specialty Powders.