B.—CHEMISTRY. 5 
_ dealing with different classes of work, such as organic chemistry, physical 
chemistry, analytical and general chemistry, physical investigation, 
calorimetry, stability, pyrotechny, applications of high explosives, fuse 
design, and records. 
The manufacture of high explosives had not previously been under- 
taken by Government, and the known processes for making trinitrotoluene, 
which was early chosen as a Service high explosive, were unsatisfactory. 
One of the first subjects, therefore, taken up after the outbreak of war 
was the provision of an efficient and rapid process for the manufacture of 
-_trinitrotoluene, especially without the use of fuming sulphuric acid (oleum). 
_ From the results of a large series of nitrations in the laboratory, a process 
_ was evolved characterised by several novel features, and this was put to 
_ the proof on the semi-industrial scale of a quarter-ton, a plant being designed 
and erected in the Research Department, Woolwich, for nitration, in- 
cluding appropriate arrangements for the mixing and concentration of 
acids. This small plant substantiated in a remarkable way the process 
evolved from the laboratory work, and from the start turned out trinitro- 
toluene of good quality and yield. The process found immediate 
application in the large Government factories that were designed and 
erected by Mr. Quinan and also in numerous private works built at this 
time. The small-scale plant mentioned was used also for the purpose of 
training chemists, who proceeded to operate chemical plant in Government 
and private factories. 
| A study of trinitrotoluene in all its aspects was undertaken, and much 
attention devoted to its chemistry, the proportions in which the isomers 
occur in the crude product being determined by thermal analysis, and 
investigations were made on their interactions, stability, sensitiveness, 
heat values, and explosive properties. Most of the scientific results of 
_ this work have since been published. 
When it became evident, as it soon did to Lord Moulton, that the 
supply of high explosives in use, lyddite and trinitrotoluene, would not 
suffice, the Research Department put forward mixtures of ammonium 
nitrate and trinitrotoluene, the amatols, as a result of a study of their 
- properties and of their effects in shell-bursting trials. Gun trials confirmed 
these trials at rest, and the adoption of amatol as a high explosive quickly 
followed. Various methods of filling these mixtures into shell were at this 
time worked out, and many of them were applied on the very largest scale. 
_ It was found that 80/20 amatol (80 parts of ammonium nitrate to 
20 of trinitrotoluene) was less easy to bring to detonation than lyddite 
or trinitrotoluene itself, and it required special arrangements in the train 
of initiation of detonation. These were successfully devised, and good 
and trustworthy detonation of our shell was secured. Ultimately, amatol 
became practically the only explosive for land and aerial warfare, and 
justified the early estimate of its properties and capabilities. It is 
economical in that it makes use of a cheap ingredient, and has explosive 
properties that render it very suitable for the purposes for which it is used. 
In 1917 the production was at the rate of about 4,000 tons a week. 
The Department continued the study of amatol, especially with regard 
its chemical stability and compatibility with the various materials with 
which it came into contact. Certain impurities in ammonium nitrate were 
iscovered to be objectionable, and investigation of these led to an 
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