nater Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Jim Muth said it was a really fast and white tailed rocket. He uses this formula in his four stage, 1/4" rockets. They are something to see! -dag Interesting, although I don't have conductive lampblack or spherical aluminum that small. Might have to browse the vendors at PGI.
Mumbles Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 I wouldn't imagine that conductive lampblack is special in this formula over normal lampblack. If I had to guess, it's added as an opacifier.
nater Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 I don't have regular lampblack either. I could get out an oil lamp and start harvesting some, but that might take a while.
dagabu Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Jim is about 80 years old and his wife is still alive as well. He dragged me out to the rocket line in 2010 to show me his rocket taking off. That little sucker made 5000' at minumum as it had a good 6 seconds from flash to sound, which werent much! -dag
nater Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Wow, that is very impressive. It is something I will have to try, but I will have to look for the right chems first.
Juiceh Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 (edited) OH, right, sorry. MUTH ROCKET FORMULA ll Potassium Perchlorate 68.4Ammonium Perchlorate 7.6Sodium Salicyate 17.5Aluminum 5u Spherical 2.0Conductive Lampblack 2.0Copper Oxychloride 3.0Vaseline 3.0 Screen all ingredients together through a 100 mesh screen three times, melt the Vaseline and add it to 30 parts paint thinner, add it to the comp and screen twice through a 20 mesh screen, add more thinner and rice it through a 20 mesh screen. Press as one would a whistle rocket. -dag What tooling would this work with? H/U? Edited August 20, 2012 by Juiceh
Pyrotrev Posted August 29, 2012 Posted August 29, 2012 KClO4 75 Resorcinol resin 25 Makes a usable fuel if you get the nozzle dimensions right - you load it as a putty into the tube. Adding copper oxychloride or Fe2O3 as a catalyst can improve the burn rate.
dagabu Posted August 29, 2012 Posted August 29, 2012 What tooling would this work with? H/U? I don't remember the tooling... -dag
AirCowPeacock Posted November 5, 2012 Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) It is the fact that the (per)chlorate ion has very different characteristics than the nitrate ion. Chemically, energetically, they are totally different. You are familiar with nitroglycerin? Take a glycerin molecule, replace the OH groups with nitro groups (NO2) to it. Boom. Theoretically, one could use perchlorate ions rather than the nitro groups, and you'd have an explosive vastly more powerful than nitroglycerin. The problem is, the sensitivity skyrockets, so much so that the molecule falls apart before it can even fully form. There are simple ethyl perchlorate compounds that are so energetic, a drop will blow a crisp hole through a stainless spoon. They are also insanely dangerous and scary sensitive. This is all basic chemistry. Back in the early 1800's, all the militaries of the world had was black powder. There were desperate attempts to replace the KNO3 with KClO3, which makes a vastly more powerful mix, but people died and it never worked, even when the sulfur was eliminated. It took nitrocellulose to finally replace the black powder to any great degree. Be VERY careful with (per)chlorates - they can be unforgiving and quite dangerous when mixed whilly-nilly with differing fuels. KNO3 is much more forgiving. I agree with the others, there is enough room for a lifetime of experimentation with BP rockets. KP Burst burnrate is more pressure sensitive then BP, so is Whistle. I would guess this a property of KClO4. Organic nitrates and perchlorates are not nitrate and perchlorate salts. But take a look at transition metal nitrates and perchlorates. I believe the leads are a good example. Edited November 5, 2012 by AirCowPeacock
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