pedrovecchio
Harmless
Posts: 38
Registered: 12-3-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Evolution of Black Powder Manufacture
Energetic materials are not my cup of tea, but I have stumbled upon an excellent paper that describes the evolution of the process of black powder
manufacture.
I used the search engine and the paper was apparently unknow here.
Black Powder Manufacture
R. A. Howard
Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology 1 (1975) 13
Download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?zew3pif22dlit9j
I am unable to attach the paper to this message due to the 2 MB limit.
Fortunately nbk2000 isn't going to cut and paste or retype everything and put it on his DVD.
|
|
|
12AX7
Post Harlot
Posts: 4803
Registered: 8-3-2005
Location: oscillating
Member Is Offline
Mood: informative
|
|
For anyone interested, I've hosted it here: http://t3sl4.dnsdynamic.net/howard1975.pdf
Interesting read, thanks.
Tim
|
|
|
hissingnoise
International Hazard
Posts: 3940
Registered: 26-12-2002
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pulverulescent!
|
|
An interesting read indeed, even on just a quick perusal ─ as a foil to it, here's Dan Williams excellent piece on home manufacture of black powder!
|
|
|
bbartlog
International Hazard
Posts: 1139
Registered: 27-8-2009
Location: Unmoored in time
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Never heard of that journal before... and it looks really cool. Thanks!
The less you bet, the more you lose when you win.
|
|
|
Swede
Hazard to Others
Posts: 491
Registered: 4-9-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Many of us here on SM were drawn simultaneously or sequentially into amateur pyrotechnics.
No, not kewl bomzz dood, but legitimate display fireworks. The kind that make pretty colors, although loud noises usually accompany them!
Anyway, the pyrotechnics crowd have taken BP manufacture to a well-honed art. To get anywhere in pyrotechnics, one must make decent BP for lift and
burst. And the way to do that on the amateur level is with a ball mill. A well-charged jar with lead or brass media, and the classic 75:15:10
mixture, correctly milled, will make BP as good as or better than Goex or elephant sporting powders, and where you pay $20 U.S. per pound for the
commercial variety, homemade BP can be produced for less than a buck a pound if you buy the KNO3 in bulk.
The real secret is the charcoal. The correct wood makes all the difference, with balsa charcoal being king, and woods like paulownia, alder, willow,
soft white pine, also right up there.
Processing the talc-fine ball mill product into a useful product is also an interesting process. Most people simply moisten, sometimes add a binder
like dextrin, then screen. The density of such a powder is not high but it works well and is easy. Others press the BP into cakes which are then
broken up and screened for size.
It's a lot of fun and very interesting, with obviously a lot of history behind it.
|
|
|
caterpillar
Hazard to Others
Posts: 472
Registered: 8-1-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
When I was young, BP was the first of energetic materials, what I was working with. I found, that gun powder and BP as a solid rocket propellant must
be different. The classic BP (75:15:10) provides smaller thrust then 72:27:12, been used in home made rocket's engines.
Women are more perilous sometimes, than any hi explosive.
|
|
|
hyfalcon
International Hazard
Posts: 1003
Registered: 29-3-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by caterpillar  | | When I was young, BP was the first of energetic materials, what I was working with. I found, that gun powder and BP as a solid rocket propellant must
be different. The classic BP (75:15:10) provides smaller thrust then 72:27:12, been used in home made rocket's engines. |
Shouldn't that have been 70:17:13? Yours adds up to 111%.
|
|
|
caterpillar
Hazard to Others
Posts: 472
Registered: 8-1-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by hyfalcon | | Quote: Originally posted by caterpillar | | When I was young, BP was the first of energetic materials, what I was working with. I found, that gun powder and BP as a solid rocket propellant must
be different. The classic BP (75:15:10) provides smaller thrust then 72:27:12, been used in home made rocket's engines. |
Shouldn't that have been 70:17:13? Yours adds up to 111%. |
I meant grams, of course. Original mixture, which I found in an magazine was 72 gr KNO3+ 35 gr of charcoal +12 gr sulfur, but I quickly found that one
must decrease quantity of charcoal.
Women are more perilous sometimes, than any hi explosive.
|
|
|
Swede
Hazard to Others
Posts: 491
Registered: 4-9-2008
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Most of the BP rocket guys have formulas that are higher in charcoal and lower in oxidizer... Too energetic a mix causes the dreaded boom on takeoff
rather than a nice lofting of the payload. And the boom from even a small BP rocket is pretty impressive.
|
|
|
hyfalcon
International Hazard
Posts: 1003
Registered: 29-3-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
This I know. First 2 or 3 times I built a BP rocket I used about 4 times as much clay for the nozzle. The KATO that resulted had all the
neighborhood dogs going off.
1/2" core burners will do just fine with the regular mix of BP. If you go any larger they will begin to pulse and sometimes kato. It can be dialed
in to prevent this by the addition of .5-5% Sodium Bicarbonate.
[Edited on 26-10-2012 by hyfalcon]
[Edited on 26-10-2012 by hyfalcon]
|
|
|
caterpillar
Hazard to Others
Posts: 472
Registered: 8-1-2012
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Possible explosion is not the only problem. I noticed that standard mixture (75:15:10) definitely provides smaller thrust than another one with higher
amount of charcoal. Addition of kalium picrate is useful too- propellant with it burns faster.
Women are more perilous sometimes, than any hi explosive.
|
|
|
elementcollector1
International Hazard
Posts: 2684
Registered: 28-12-2011
Location: The Known Universe
Member Is Offline
Mood: Molten
|
|
^Reported.
Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
Next in Line: Nd
|
|
|
Mildronate
Hazard to Others
Posts: 428
Registered: 12-9-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: Ruido sintetico
|
|
i cant open these papers
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
