Pentolite

Pentolite is a composite high explosive used for military and civilian purposes, e.g., warheads and booster charges. It is made of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) phlegmatized with trinitrotoluene (TNT) by melt casting.¹

The most common military variety of pentolite (designated "Pentolite 50/50") is a mixture of 50% PETN and 50% TNT.¹ (Unlike other compound explosives, the number before the slash is the mass percentage of TNT and the second number is the mass percentage of PETN.) This 50:50 mixture has a density of 1.65 g/cm³ and a detonation velocity of 7400 m/s.

Pentolite is a common explosive for cast boosters for the blasting work (as in mining).²³ Civilian pentolite may contain a lower percentage of PETN, e. g. around 2% ("Pentolite 98/2"), 5% ("Pentolite 95/5") or 10% ("Pentolite 90/10"). These civilian pentolites have a detonation velocity of about 7,800 metres per second.

References

B. M. Dobratz & P. C. Crawford, LLNL Explosives Handbook, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, UCRL-52997, Change 2, January 31, 1985.
Kennedy, Bruce A. (1990). Surface Mining, Second Edition. SME. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-87335-102-7.
Rustan, Agne (1998). Rock Blasting Terms and Symbols: A Dictionary of Symbols and Terms in Rock Blasting and Related Areas like Drilling, Mining and Rock Mechanics. CRC Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-90-5410-441-4.

External links

Additional information in re Pentolite boosters

[LLNL-1] B. M. Dobratz & P. C. Crawford, LLNL Explosives Handbook, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, UCRL-52997, Change 2, January 31, 1985.

[2] Kennedy, Bruce A. (1990). Surface Mining, Second Edition. SME. p. 547. ISBN 978-0-87335-102-7.

[3] Rustan, Agne (1998). Rock Blasting Terms and Symbols: A Dictionary of Symbols and Terms in Rock Blasting and Related Areas like Drilling, Mining and Rock Mechanics. CRC Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-90-5410-441-4.

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