oldguy Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 In some pyro comps & rocket fuels.I have seen mention of a small percentage of red iron oxide catalyst. Can anyone explain to this relative newbie, what's the purpose of that?
mike_au Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Are you familiar with what a catalyst is? Some (all?) reactions require a certain input of energy to get them started. You apply energy (in the form of heat) to certain mixtures and they start to react (possibly producing energy themselves). A catalyst allows for an alternative reaction pathway, so instead of A reacting directly with B to produce AB (which might require a large input of energy to get started), A reacts with C to form AC, and AC then reacts with B to produce AB and C (catalysts aren't consumed). If the A+C->AC and AC+B->AB+C reactions require less energy than the A+B->AB reaction then C can be used as a catalyst to reduce the activation energy of the reaction.
dagabu Posted July 8, 2011 Posted July 8, 2011 Are you familiar with what a catalyst is? Some (all?) reactions require a certain input of energy to get them started. You apply energy (in the form of heat) to certain mixtures and they start to react (possibly producing energy themselves). A catalyst allows for an alternative reaction pathway, so instead of A reacting directly with B to produce AB (which might require a large input of energy to get started), A reacts with C to form AC, and AC then reacts with B to produce AB and C (catalysts aren't consumed). If the A+C->AC and AC+B->AB+C reactions require less energy than the A+B->AB reaction then C can be used as a catalyst to reduce the activation energy of the reaction. (Pssst! It makes more power) -dag
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