Effect of small additions of diethylenetriamine on the width of the reaction zone in detonation waves in nitromethane

This paper presents the results of an experimental determination of the width of the reaction zone in a detonation wave in nitromethane sensitized by diethylenetriamine. It was found that increasing the mass concentration of diethylenetriamine from 0 to 2.0% reduced the typical reaction time by a factor of less than two while the critical diameter decreased by an order of magnitude. This discrepancy is explained by the fact that the critical detonation diameter of neat nitromethane is determined not by the reaction time but by flow instability at the edge of the charge, manifested in the occurrence of a wave of reaction disruption. Increasing the initial rate of nitromethane decomposition by addition of diethylenetriamine leads to flow stabilization and thus to a change in the nature of the critical diameter.