Editing RDX (section)

====Bachmann process====
The  [[National Defense Research Committee|National Defence Research Committee]]  (NDRC) instructed three companies to develop pilot plants. They were the Western Cartridge Company, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and [[Eastman Chemical Company|Tennessee Eastman Company]], part of Eastman Kodak.<ref name=baxter-253-259/> At the [[Eastman Chemical Company]] (TEC), a leading manufacturer of acetic anhydride, [[Werner Emmanuel Bachmann]] developed a continuous-flow process for RDX utilizing an ammonium nitrate/nitric acid mixture as a nitrating agent in a medium of acetic acid and acetic anhydride. RDX was crucial to the war effort and the current batch-production process was too slow. In February 1942, TEC began producing small amounts of RDX at its Wexler Bend pilot plant, which led to the US government authorizing TEC to design and build [[Holston Ordnance Works]] (H.O.W.) in June 1942. By April 1943, RDX was being manufactured there.<ref name=Bachmann-Sheehan/> At the end of 1944, the Holston plant and the [[Newport Chemical Depot|Wabash River Ordnance Works]], which used the Woolwich process, were producing {{convert|25000|ST|tonne}} (50 million pounds) of [[Composition B]] per month.<ref>{{Harvtxt|MacDonald and Mack Partnership|1984|p=32}}</ref>

The Bachmann process yields both RDX and [[HMX]], with the major product determined by the specific reaction conditions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yinon |first1=Jehuda |title=Toxicity and Metabolism of Explosives |date=30 June 1990 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-0529-9 |page=166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BD3c7FN4x5YC |language=en}}</ref>