PLX

PLX, abbreviation of Picatinny Liquid Explosive, is a liquid binary

TNT

.

Properties

PLX, when mixed, is a transparent liquid with a yellow-orange tint. Ethylene diamine is very volatile, requiring the contents to be sealed if any storage is intended. Generally, for safety purposes, the contents are transported separately and mixed on site. PLX is known to have a

blasting cap

or a small booster charge to successfully detonate.

Uses and discovery

PLX was invented during

minefields

by being spread via plane over the targeted area or poured from a safe distance and detonated by troops on the ground.

This explosive can also be

thermobaric purposes. Trzciński^[who?] reports that 200 grams of a mixture of NM with PMMA as gelling agent and AlMg (45:55, mean particle size = 63 microns) as fuel, in a ratio of 67.2/2.8/30 by mass, has a peak overpressure of 120 kPa 2 m from the(open air) blast site, a 1.65 TNT equivalency in peak pressure, and a 1.62 equivalency in shockwave impulse.^[1] As a reference, 104 kPa is widely regarded as a pressure where 50% of eardrums fail.^[2] This is still 3 - 5 times less than the pressure needed to achieve a 50% fatality rate via pulmonary injury as per the Bass/Bowen equations (standing adult, facing any direction).^[3]

PLX has been implicated as one of the materials capable of being used in catastrophic terrorism, as most steel core columns can not withstand the detonation of 10 – 30 kg PLX in direct contact (explosive on bare steel). Nitromethane and its gelling agents are freely sold to the public in the US, though. Its sale to the public was banned in the EU in September 2014.[4]

It was the supposed explosive used in the film Die Hard with a Vengeance.^{[citation needed]} However, the film grossly exaggerated the sensitivity of this explosive mixture.

PLX was one of the explosives used to down Korean Air Flight 858 along with C-4.

References

PMID 23840874
.

PMID 23840874
.

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-12-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2018-12-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=PLX&oldid=1184002125"

[1] PMID 23840874
.

[2] PMID 23840874
.

[3] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2018-12-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-06. Retrieved 2018-12-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]