Editing Detonator (section)

{{Short description|Small explosive device used to trigger a larger explosion}}
{{Other uses}}
{{multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=June 2015}}
{{citation style|date=October 2023}}
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[[File:Detonator.jpg|thumb|Top: small [[nonel]] detonator with 2 ms delay for chaining nonel tubes; middle: class B SPD detonator; bottom: class C SPD detonator]]
[[File:Eod2.jpg|thumb|Inserting detonators into blocks of [[C-4 explosive]]]]

A '''detonator'''  is a device used to make an explosive or explosive device explode.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-28 |title=Definition of DETONATOR |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detonator |access-date=2024-08-10 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> Detonators come in a variety of types, depending on how they are initiated (chemically, mechanically, or electrically) and details of their inner working, which often involve several stages. Types of detonators include non-electric and electric. Non-electric detonators are typically stab or [[Pyrotechnics|pyrotechnic]] while electric are typically "hot wire" (low voltage), exploding bridge wire (high voltage) or explosive foil (very high voltage).<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Oyler |first1=Karl |last2=Mehta |first2=Neha |last3=Cheng |first3=Gartung |date=2015-11-01 |title=Overview of Explosive Initiators |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA625185.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402095032/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA625185.pdf |archive-date=2022-04-02 |access-date=2024-08-09 |website=Defense Technical Information Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1663169 |title=PETN Exploding Bridgewire (EBW) Detonators: A Review |last=Neal |first=William |date=2020-09-18 |publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States) |issue=LA-UR-20-27352 |osti=1663169 |language=English}}</ref>

The original electric detonators invented in 1875 independently by Julius Smith and Perry Gardiner used [[mercury fulminate]] as the [[primary explosive]]. Around the turn of the century performance was enhanced in the Smith-Gardiner blasting cap by the addition of 10-20% [[potassium chlorate]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=Paul |title=Explosives Engineering |date=1996 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-18636-8 |pages=337–339 |language=EN}}</ref> This compound was superseded by others: [[lead azide]], [[lead styphnate]], some [[aluminium]], or other materials such as DDNP ([[diazo dinitro phenol]]) to reduce the amount of lead emitted into the atmosphere by mining and quarrying operations. They also often use a small amount of [[trinitrotoluene|TNT]] or [[tetryl]] in military detonators and [[PETN]] in commercial detonators.