A HIGH YIELD SYNTHESIS PROCESS FOR AMMONIUM DINITRAMIDE (ADN)

AMMONIUM DINITRAMIDE (ADN) WAS INVENTED AT SRI INTERNATIONAL (MENLO PARK, CA) IN 1989. ITS DISCOVERY IS SIGNIFICANT IN THAT THEORETICAL CALCULATIONS PREDICT IT TO EXHIBIT BETTER PERFORMANCE AS AN ADVANCED ORDNANCE MATERIAL THAN MOST CLASSICAL NITRAMINE INGREDIENTS. A PROBLEM WITH ADN AT THE OUTSET WAS THE LOW YIELDS OFFERED BY THE SYNTHETIC ROUTES TO THE COMPOUND. THE MOST IMPORTANT OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AN IMPROVED SYNTHETIC ROUTE TO ADN. SEVERAL PROPOSED ROUTES TO THE PRODUCT ARE BASED ON VARIOUS PRECEDENCE FOR SIMILAR REACTIONS. A KEY QUESTION IN THE ASSESSMENT OF THE PROPOSED ALTERNATIVE ROUTES IS WHETHER OR NOT THE ECONOMICS OF THE SYNTHETIC SCHEMES SHOULD ALLOW OR PRECLUDE THEIR CONSIDERATION AS MORE ECONOMICAL ALTERNATIVES TO THE CURRENT BEST ROUTE TO ADN. ANOTHER OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I EFFORT WILL BE TO SCALE UP A PROCEDURE OF CHOICE TO DEMONSTRATE PRACTICAL PREPARATION OF ONE-POUND BATCHES OF ADN. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: THE PRACTICAL AVAILABILITY AND USE OF ADN FOR ORDNANCE SYSTEMS WOULD RESULT IN IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN MANY EXPLOSIVE AND PROPELLANT APPLICATIONS: NEW ASW EXPLOSIVES, HIGH-ENERGY LOVA PROPELLANTS, AND ADN-AUGMENTED ALUMINUM COMPOSITE PROPELLANTS. OTHER OBVIOUS APPLICATIONS ARE AS A SUPERIOR MINIMUM-SIGNATURE PROPELLANT OXIDIZER AND AS A NOVEL MELT-CASTABLE EXPLOSIVE.