Quote:
Originally Posted by swiss
Contact with air?
How do you wanna do that - create an anaerobe climate inside the cartridge? If so, where do take the oxygen needed for the combustion from?
There is a reason gunpowder has the shape of lil' balls(or cylinders): More space for O2 in between.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
|
All propellants (from Black powder to nitrocellulose) contain their fuel and oxider as chemical compounds within the powder. They require no external oxygen.
I am not a Chemist but a heres a discussion of the reaction for black powder,
"Black powder consists of the granular ingredients sulfur (S), charcoal (provides carbon to the reaction) and saltpetre (saltpetre, potassium nitrate, KNO3; provides oxygen to the reaction).
A simple, commonly cited, chemical equation for the combustion of black powder is:
2 KNO3 + S + 3C → K2S + N2 + 3CO2
A more accurate, but still simplified[1], equation is
10 KNO3 + 3S + 8C → 2K2CO3 + 3K2SO4 + 6 CO2 + 5N2
"
[online
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...0134837AAZTiVM ]
The shape of various propellants is designed to ensure consistent ignition and transference of the flame front as the powder ignites.
Cheers
[edit] I've been trying to find the equation for the combustion of nitrocellulose but I can't find one. Only how to make it! (go figure)
For those who care Cordite is nitrocellulose that has been disolved in nitroglycerine with a bit of petrolium jelly for lubrication.
Fortunately for when the excreta hits the A.M.D. my 1957 copy of 'Fortunes in Formulas' (25s/9d) has industrial procedure for the manufacture of Both. Oh! They were better days!