Sparx88 Posted December 21, 2013 Posted December 21, 2013 I have seen erythritol mentioned and used in some compositions and I am wondering what it does and is it usable in pyrotechnics? I know about the stuff you see on youtube about it, I'm not interested in that particular usage.
HissingRDX Posted December 21, 2013 Posted December 21, 2013 Are you referring to erythritol tetra nitrate?
Sparx88 Posted December 21, 2013 Author Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) No, that is the HE version of it. Not for me. Are there other ways to use it in fireworks? I don't want to get into nitrating things because well, I'm not qualified, I have full healthy hands and I want to keep them, and that nasty other side effect of that sort of thing...prison. Not. I'm just a hobby guy, I got a lot of em, but I only keep the ones that keep me alive. But seriously, is this stuff any good for anything other than a sugar substitute? Will it perform better as a rocket fuel than sugar? Edited December 21, 2013 by Sparx88
psyco_1322 Posted December 21, 2013 Posted December 21, 2013 Not really Sparx, I can't recall any formula that calls for it. It's possible it could be used for rocket fuel, but that's going to High Powered Rocketry. It probably won't fare as well as sugar for little pyro rockets.
mikeee Posted December 22, 2013 Posted December 22, 2013 Erythritol is a good substitute when making R-candy rockets, several of the large rocket makers use this fuel exclusively for the fuel.The erythritol has a low melting temperature which simplifies the process of casting the fuel grains.The erythritol has an extra hydrogen molecule in its structure which seems to make it work well as a fuel.Scott Fintel has a good website and several tutorials on how he uses this fuel for high altitude rockets.
Sparx88 Posted December 22, 2013 Author Posted December 22, 2013 TY I have been poking around looking that up about rocket fuel. Sounds like it's pretty darn good at it. It's not cheap though. Best I could find is 7$ pound plus 3.99$ shipping. Pff, well when I get to that point I'll give it a go. Maybe it would also work good for smokes. If I get any I'll try the smoke option then once I get the tooling, rockets. I love this stuff.
Mumbles Posted December 27, 2013 Posted December 27, 2013 I like the idea of using it in smokes. Likely, any place where you see lactose being used, erythritol might be able to be used. Colored smokes or other temperature sensitive effects would probably be the most directly useful applications. I bet you could make some nice blue stars. I seem to recall that rocket mixtures made from it were not nearly as hygroscopic, so that could be a plus for certain things.
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