Potassiumchlorate Posted February 4, 2012 Posted February 4, 2012 Could it be dangerous? 95% of it passes a 125µm/120 mesh sieve, but I'd like to see how much milling for about an hour improves the burn rate with shellac.
50AE Posted February 4, 2012 Posted February 4, 2012 Of course not, it's an oxidizer. Make sure your drum is chlorate only and mill it.
asilentbob Posted February 4, 2012 Posted February 4, 2012 Is the drum rubber coated? Does the rubber have sulfur in it? Make sure not to inhale any of it.
Potassiumchlorate Posted February 5, 2012 Author Posted February 5, 2012 It's made completely of rubber. There was never sulfur in it.
Peret Posted February 5, 2012 Posted February 5, 2012 Ah, there's a reason they call it "rubbermaker's sulfur". Sulfur is used to crosslink the polymer bonds in the process called vulcanization, which turns the rubber from a soft sticky paste into a hard molded component. Not all rubber is hardened with sulfur, just most of it, and I have no idea if there's any unreacted residue that might give you trouble with chlorates.
Potassiumchlorate Posted February 5, 2012 Author Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) I know that by Berthollet's disastrous attempt to make chlorate based gunpowder back in the 18th Century they actually milled potassium chlorate with sulfur several times, before the mill exploded. I think it's very unlikely that the tiny amount of sulfur in the rubber could cause anything, but I'd like to be at least 99.9999999% sure, hence my asking. It comes to mind: I have already milled potassium chlorate in the drum once. Edited February 5, 2012 by Potassiumchlorate
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