Rôle of secondary oxidisers?

[ChemistrySet]

What part do Sugars, Carbonates, & Oxides play as secondary oxidisers in energetic formulæ such as tiny torpedoes, using a large proportion of Silica Sand (SiO2) as their friction initiator, and as fuel Sb2S3 with Sucrose (C12-H22-O11) & Sulphur buffered by baking soda (NaHCO3)?

 

Small, solid "torpedoes" were formerly available as tiny, hard pellets, little larger than a round BB pellet, called "Atom Pearls" -- which gave a loud crack with flash when tossed against the pavement even better than the slightly larger multi-coloured Cracker Balls. In even larger form, these solid torpedoes produce spectacular effects -- somewhat more powerful than the 3/4" hollow, gravel actuated silver commercial Torpedoes freely available as Class C in former years (e.g. "Atom Bombs").

 

Three formulæ of "Sparky" Christianson[sic?], in his "poetic" little topical book of a quarter century past on Torpedoes, are recorded by volume instead of weight, but are workable when experientially broken down into grams. Stressing safety, this work was in the style of the then-popular "cookbooks". (If anyone has experimented with these, please share your observations & modifications. In converting volume to weight, Sparky's teaspoon fractionals apparently mean a "heaping" linear amount in practice.) What surprised me was that these seemed inversely low on Chlorate, with primary oxidiser:reducer ratio of barely more than 1:2 (friction enhancing Silica Sand was ~34% by weight, using fine powder abrasive SiO2).

 

Do SiO2, and also the buffering carbonates often used with Chlorate/Perchlorate and sulphur (MgCo3, CaCO3; and the metallic salts), contribute their Oxygen in such hot-burning compositions and so reduce the need for primary oxidisers? Are the 11 Oxygen atoms of sucrose molecules easily liberated? (Does sugar, too, act as secondary oxidiser?)

 

In practical Chemistry, how does one figure simple estimates of the ease or difficulty by which substances yield their molecular Oxygen?

 

Edward

[Swany]

Alll sugars act as fuel. Even though sucrose does contain 11 O, it also contains 22H, and 12C. The reaction for decomposition of sucrose is thus: C12H22O11 ->11H2O+12C and is still oxygen deficient.

 

SiO2, under the right conditions could be reduced by a strong reducer, such as Mg or Al, to produce molten silicon fallout.

 

As a general rule, most non-alkali carbonates will decompose under heating to yeild CO2, and a metal oxide. Alkali carbonates are fairly stable, even when heated to a red heat.

 

In order to determine how much secondary oxidisers will be used, you can look at a few variables:

1) type of fuels, i.e. metallic, carbohydrates, etc.

2) burning temparture, proportional to fuel type.

3) amount of primary oxidiser: is the carbonate ment to be an oxidiser? Or simply a filler.

 

Generally, oxygen acids that make the salts have several oxidation states. Like chlorine. Cl in the perchlorate anion is much different than in the chloride anion, oxidation state speaking. In combustion, the perchlorate ion is reduced by the fuel, to the chloride, presumably. Atomic structure also plays a role. Since carbon is confined to +4, for all practical purposes, the ability to form carbonates, subcarbonates, percarbonates, etc. is based on the oxidation state of oxygen, not carbon. I belive this makes it somewhat more stable than, say, oxygen acids of chlorine, nitrogen, sulfur, etc.

 

Of course, there is surely a more scientific way to calculate this. I simply have not reached that point in chemistry. Perhaps enthalpy/heat of formation?