Social and political amplification of technological hazardsThe case of the PEPCON explosion

Ibitayo, Olurominiyi O.; Mushkatel, Alvin H.; Pijawka, K. David

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2004.08.020

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Though a non-nuclear event, Clark County, Nevada was home to the Pacific Engineering and Production Company (PEPCON) rocket fuel company, which exploded on May 4, 1998 (Ibitayo et al [4]). In addition to loss of life, the economic toll as a result of the explosion included damages to homes, buildings and schools.…”

Section: Response To Man-made Environmental Emergenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clark County monitoring system

Navis¹,

Conway²

2006

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 98

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Section: Response To Man-made Environmental Emergenciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clark County monitoring system

Navis¹,

Conway²

2006

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol 98

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show abstract

“…AP has many advantages, including an ideal density, a favorable oxygen balance, and tailorable burn rates. While AP delivers excellent performance in propellants, it is an unstable compound when heated and has the potential to react violently and explode [5][6][7]. Its safety and thermal decomposition performance directly affect the safety and burning rate of solid propellants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of the Micropore Structure of Ammonium Perchlorate during Low-Temperature Decomposition and Its Combustion Characteristics

et al. 2021

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Ammonium perchlorate (AP) is a common oxidant in solid propellants, and its thermal decomposition characteristics at low temperatures (less than 240 °C) are key to the study of the thermal safety of propellants. Here, the low-temperature thermal decomposition characteristics of AP were investigated at 230 °C. The micromorphology of the low-temperature decomposition residues was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and 3D nano-computed tomography in order to analyse the evolution of microscopic pore structures, and the effect of the AP pore structure on combustion performance was then tested and analysed with a homemade closed bomb. The results demonstrate that the low-temperature decomposition of AP first occurs near the surface of the particles, simultaneously starting at multiple points and forming pores, and then gradually expands towards the interior until almost all of the pores connect with one other. Compared with ordinary AP, porous AP has a significantly improved combustion rate. When the ratio of porous AP to Al was 80:20, the peak pressure in the closed bomb was increased by 2.7 times; the rate of change in peak pressure increased 34 times, leading to a higher reaction speed and higher reaction intensity, and a typical explosion reaction occurred.

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“…Rocket propellants with these oxidizers can explode violently when slowly heated 1 , 2 , 3 . There have been several high-profile accidents with the slow heating of rocket propellant or rocket propellant ingredients that have drawn attention to these issues such as the fire and subsequent cook-off of munitions on the USS Forrestal 4 and the PEPCON explosion 1 . While these are thankfully rare events, they can be devastating because of the personnel and equipment losses that occur.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory Scale Slow Cook-Off Testing of Rocket Propellants: The Combustion Rate Analysis of a Slowly Heated Propellant (CRASH-P) Test

Essel

Nelson

Gray

et al. 2021

JoVE

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Solid rocket propellants are widely used for propulsion applications by military and space agencies. Although highly effective, they can be dangerous to personnel and equipment under certain conditions, with slow heating in confined conditions being a particular danger. This paper describes a more affordable laboratory test that is easier to set up and was developed for screening rocket propellant ingredients. Rocket propellants are cast into sample holders that have been designed to have the same confinement as standard rocket motors (propellant volume to total volume in the container) and ensure that the propellant is not easily vented. Reaction violence is quantified by the time it takes to reach 90% of the maximum pressure after autoignition, which is analogous to blast overpressure gauges used to measure violence in a full-scale test. A positive correlation was observed between the speed and pressure produced from the reaction and the power produced by the rocket propellant during the reaction.

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Social and political amplification of technological hazardsThe case of the PEPCON explosion

Cited by 20 publications

References 30 publications

Clark County monitoring system

Clark County monitoring system

Evolution of the Micropore Structure of Ammonium Perchlorate during Low-Temperature Decomposition and Its Combustion Characteristics

Laboratory Scale Slow Cook-Off Testing of Rocket Propellants: The Combustion Rate Analysis of a Slowly Heated Propellant (CRASH-P) Test

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