OXYGEN BALANCE CALCULATION

Oxygen balance is an expression that is used to indicate the degree to which a substance /
compound can be oxidized. If a substance molecule contains just enough oxygen to convert
all of its carbon to carbon dioxide, all of its hydrogen to water, and all of its metal to metal
oxide with no excess, the molecule is said to have a zero oxygen balance.

The molecule is said to have a positive oxygen balance if it contains more oxygen than is
needed and a negative oxygen balance if it contains less oxygen than is needed.

The sensitivity, strength, and brisance of a substance are all somewhat dependent upon
oxygen balance and tend to approach their maximums as oxygen balance approaches zero.

The oxygen balance (OB) is calculated from the empirical formula of a compound in
percentage of oxygen required for complete conversion of carbon to carbon dioxide,
hydrogen to water, and metal to metal oxide.

The procedure for calculating oxygen balance in terms of 100 grams of the material is to
determine the number of gram atoms of oxygen that are excess or deficient for 100 grams
of a compound.

CaHbOcNd + (a +b/4 -c/2) O2 = aCO2 +b/2 H2O + d/2 N2

Then oxygen balance = -1600 X (2a + b/2 -c)

Molecular weight

For Example: Trinitrotoluene (TNT)

Molecular Formula = C6H2(NO2)3CH3
Molecular weight = 227.1gm
a = 7 (number of carbon atoms)
b = 5 (number of hydrogen atoms)
c = 6 (number of oxygen atoms)

Therefore OB (%) = -1600 [14 + 2.5 - 6]

227.1

= - 74% for TNT

A simple relationship such as oxygen balance cannot be depended upon to yield universally
consistent results. When using oxygen balance to predict properties of one substance
relative to another, it is to be expected that one with an oxygen balance closer to zero will
be the more powerful, and sensitive; however, many exceptions to this rule do exist.
NOTES:

1. The oxygen balance scheme is not applicable to oxygen free but hazardous
compounds such as, for example, acetylene, acetylides, diazo compounds,
explosive nitrides, azides, and other compounds. Although it should not be applied
to such compounds, a literal use of the oxygen balance equation produces highly
negative, non- hazardous rankings for all low-oxygen-content or oxygen-free
compositions, regardless of their actual hazard potential.

2. Almost all the recognized detonating explosives have oxygen balances between -
100 and +40. We need to treat any substance with an oxygen balance more positive
than -200 as a potentially high-risk chemical.

3. Other oxidizing entities such as chlorine are ignored.

4. Nitrogen is assumed to remain non-oxidizing.

5. The molecular structure is ignored.

6. The Oxygen balance criteria for the thermal hazard assessment is as follows,

Oxygen balance value Hazard Ranking

More Positive than +180 Low
+160 to +80 Medium
+80 to -120 High
-120 to -240 Medium
More negative than -240 Low
The above table is from “The Oxygen Balance Criterion for Thermal Hazard Assessment” paper
which was appeared in the Process Safety Progress, Vol. 4, No. 1, Jan 1995, Pages 29-31.