Relationship between electric spark sensitivity and activation energy of the thermal decomposition of nitramines for safety measures in industrial processes

•A reliable method correlates electric spark sensitivity of nitramines and their activation energies of thermolysis.•There is no need to use computer codes, which are essential for quantum mechanical calculations.•The reliability of this method has been confirmed for nitramines with complex molecular structures.

This study presents a new simple correlation between electric spark sensitivity of nitramines and their activation energies of thermolysis, which are important for safety measures in industrial processes. The new correlation can help to elucidate the mechanism of initiation of energetic materials by electric spark. It can be used to predict the magnitude of electric spark sensitivity of new nitramines, which is difficult to measure. The methodology assumes that electric spark sensitivity of a nitramine with general formula CaHbNcOd can be expressed as a function of its activation energy of thermal decomposition as well as optimized elemental composition and the contribution of specific molecular structural parameters. The new correlation has the root mean square and the average deviations of 1.37 and 1.09 J, respectively, for 21 nitramines with different molecular structures. The proposed new method is also tested for 16 nitramines so that there is no experimental data of electrostatic sensitivity for them.