Ecrasite is an
explosive material which is unaffected by moisture, shock or fire.
It is a mixture of ammonium salts of cresol, phenol and various nitrocresols and nitrophenols principally trinitrocresol and
picric acid. It was invented in 1888-1889 by two Austrian engineers named Siersch and Kubin, and used in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
to load
artillery shells. Ecrasite was patented secretly, and its composition was once unknown.
Ecrasite is prepared by the partial nitration of a crude mixture of cresol and phenol with a mixture of concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids and the neutralisation of the product with ammonia to produce a crude salt similar to
ammonium picrate
Dunnite, also known as Explosive D or systematically as ammonium picrate, is an explosive developed in 1906 by US Army Major Beverly W. Dunn, who later served as the chief inspector of the Bureau of Transportation Explosives. Ammonium picrate is ...
.
Ecrasite is a bright yellow solid. It is waxy to touch and melts at about 100 °C. When subjected to open flame, it burns without detonation, unless confined. It is insensitive to friction. It requires a
detonator for initiation. Its general adoption was hindered by several unexplained explosions during loading into shells, which might have been caused by creation of unstable metal salts of trinitrocresol and/or trinitrophenol when the explosive came in contact with metals or alloys such as copper, brass (widely used for manufacturing detonator parts) and possibly other ones.
Nitro-Explosives: A Practical Treatise by P. Gerald Sanford - Project Gutenberg
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References
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Explosives