Efficacy of Energetic Formulations in the Defeat of Bio Agents

摘要

There is need to improve the current warhead payloads to specifically target biological agent stockpiles. One option is to develop energetic materials that when detonated produce lower peak and impulse pressures along with chemical species that enhance the prompt bio-agent defeat capabilities. Clouds of metal particles, such as Al, can be easily dispersed, burn for seconds, and produce high temperatures during deflagration (upwards of 3000K). The addition of aggressive, sustainable bio-defeat chemicals to this cloud is expected to increase its capacity for bio-agent defeat. In this work, an explosive charge configuration similar to a fuel air explosive was detonated, which dispersed metal fuels, along with oxidizers capable of producing biocidal chemicals. These tests were performed inside of a small scale detonation chamber that allowed for the aerosolization of Bacillus anthracis (Ba) simulant. The spores were then collected, grown and counted to determine a colony forming unit log reduction as compared to baseline tests with no explosive.