BurritoBandito Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 Has anyone ever tried making KNSU fuel by dissolving both the sugar and potassium nitrate in acetone and allowing the acetone to evaporate? Both sucrose and KNO3 are soluble in acetone, which has a MUCH lower boiling point than water. I am thinking that this may be a good alternative to the standard recrystallization process as it would not involve heating the fuels. This could be beneficial to reduce the risk of accidental ignition and also to mitigate caramelization issues. Any thoughts?
Mumbles Posted April 3, 2013 Posted April 3, 2013 The problem that you're going to run into is that calling either sucrose or potassium nitrate "soluble" in acetone is tenuous at best. Yes, some finite amount will dissolve, but that amount is well less than 1%. I've been trying to find modern references and measurements, but this is clearly something no one cares to do, though I did include old ones. 0.18g sucrose per 100g of acetone.0.70g potassium nitrate per 100g of 87.5% aqueous acetone (aka, not even pure acetone) If you feel like wasting this much acetone, go for it. Also be aware that at this level, the solid stabilizers and additives in acetone may add more than a negligible amount of solid to your product.
BurritoBandito Posted April 3, 2013 Author Posted April 3, 2013 Thank you for your quick response. I suppose that would be problematic. Have you ever tried making fuel from kno3+Pva? I saw an instructable about making it using wood glue, kno3, and old newspaper. How do you think that would compare to KNSU?
dagabu Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 Thank you for your quick response. I suppose that would be problematic. Have you ever tried making fuel from kno3+Pva? I saw an instructable about making it using wood glue, kno3, and old newspaper. How do you think that would compare to KNSU? Are you in the USA? I have powdered PVA for use as fuel, don't try the wood glue, most of it will never dry to a usable state and it has other "stuff" that will cause the burn to chug instead of give even thrust. That said, the PVA and KNO3 is a poor substitute for using KNSU with a catalyst. dag
BurritoBandito Posted April 9, 2013 Author Posted April 9, 2013 Right on, thanks. I just saw that and thought it was kinda interesting. I appreciate the feedback.
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