Two-gram DTA as a thermal compatibility tool

A useful alternative to the standard techniques described by the North American Treaty Organization STANAG 4147 for determining thermal compatibilities of an energetic with other materials could be a simple 2-gram scale Differential Thermal Analysis (2gDTA). The 2gDTA system consists of samples introduced into standard size test tubes inserted into a controlled aluminum-heating block. Relatively inexpensive thermocouples are used for both temperature control and data collection. Cost of the entire system is much less than any commercial DSC. Since valuable instrumentation need not be protected, the 2gDTA allows thermal decomposition reactions to proceed to complete runaway, mimicking the true worst-case scenario.