Phlegmatization of TATP and HMTD with Activated Charcoal as Training Aid for Explosive Detection Dogs

Wilhelm, Isabel; Bikelyte, Greta; Wittek, Michael; Härtel, Martin Andreas Christian; Röseling, Dirk und Klapötke, Thomas Matthias (2021): Phlegmatization of TATP and HMTD with Activated Charcoal as Training Aid for Explosive Detection Dogs. In: Propellants Explosives Pyrotechnics, Bd. 47, Nr. 2

Abstract

Both TATP and HMTD could be phlegmatized by coprecipitation with active charcoal resulting in mixtures with a nominal content of 40 wt-% (d40-TATP) and 10 wt-% (d10-HMTD), respectively. In terms of impact and friction sensitivity for both peroxides a content of 40 wt-% resulted in >30 Nm impact sensitivity and >360 N friction sensitivity. Both phlegmatized peroxides passed the Koenen Tube and Thermal Stability Test according to the UN recommendation on the transport of dangerous goods test manual. Investigations with a process mass spectrometer indicate that d40-TATP can produce a saturated TATP headspace at least in the same time as the same amount of pure TATP. Measurements with the transpiration method demonstrated that the vapor pressure psat at 298.15 K of d40-TATP (2.3 Pa) and d32.7-TATP (0.9 Pa) is lower than that of pure TATP (6.7 Pa). Headspace SPME-GC/MS measurements revealed that the active charcoal does not contribute to the vapor profile of the training aid. Both d40-TATP and d10-HMTD were tested as training aids for explosive detection dog teams (EDD). In both differentiation track and realistic environment scenarios a detection rate of 100 % could be achieved by German Federal Police EDD with a false positive rate of solely 3 %.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Chemie und Pharmazie > Department Chemie
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 540 Chemie
• ISSN: 0721-3115
• Sprache: Englisch