Carbonite (explosive)

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Carbonite was one of the earliest and most successful coal-mining explosives. [1] It is made from such ingredients as nitroglycerin, wood meal, and some nitrate as that of sodium; also nitrobenzene, sulfur, and diatomaceous earth. Carbonite was invented by Bichel of Schmidt and Bichel.[ who? ] [2]

The term Carbonite can refer to these things:

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Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents, and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Explosive</span> Substance that can explode

explosives description

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunpowder</span> Explosive once used in firearms

Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). The sulfur and carbon act as fuels while the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms, artillery, rocketry, and pyrotechnics, including use as a blasting agent for explosives in quarrying, mining, building pipelines and road building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nitrate</span> Polyatomic ion (NO₃, charge –1) found in explosives and fertilisers

Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula NO
3
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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nitroglycerin</span> Chemical compound

Nitroglycerin (NG), also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating glycerol with white fuming nitric acid under conditions appropriate to the formation of the nitric acid ester. Chemically, the substance is an organic nitrate compound rather than a nitro compound, but the traditional name is retained. Discovered in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, nitroglycerin has been used ever since as an active ingredient in the manufacture of explosives, namely dynamite, and as such it is employed in the construction, demolition, and mining industries. It is combined with nitrocellulose to form double-based smokeless powder, which has been used as a propellant in artillery and firearms since the 1880's.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potassium nitrate</span> Chemical compound

Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula KNO
3
. It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrate ions NO3, and is therefore an alkali metal nitrate. It occurs in nature as a mineral, niter (or nitre in the UK). It is a source of nitrogen, and nitrogen was named after niter. Potassium nitrate is one of several nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as saltpeter (or saltpetre in the UK).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sodium nitrate</span> Chemical compound

Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO
3
. This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Chile saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate. The mineral form is also known as nitratine, nitratite or soda niter.

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Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH
3
NO
2
. It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in extractions, as a reaction medium, and as a cleaning solvent. As an intermediate in organic synthesis, it is used widely in the manufacture of pesticides, explosives, fibers, and coatings. Nitromethane is used as a fuel additive in various motorsports and hobbies, e.g. Top Fuel drag racing and miniature internal combustion engines in radio control, control line and free flight model aircraft.

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An Oxyliquit, also called liquid air explosive or liquid oxygen explosive, is an explosive material which is a mixture of liquid oxygen (LOX) with a suitable fuel, such as carbon, or an organic chemical, wood meal, or aluminium powder or sponge. It is a class of Sprengel explosives.

Pyrotol was an explosive available for a time after World War I. It was reprocessed from military surplus, with a typical composition of 60% smokeless powder, 34% sodium nitrate, and 6% of 40% nitroglycerin dynamite. Usually used in combination with dynamite, it created an incendiary blast. Since it was very inexpensive, it was often used by farmers to remove tree stumps and clear ditches. The substance was known for being used to commit the Bath School bombing in 1927. Distribution of pyrotol for farm use was discontinued in 1928, due to exhaustion of the supply of surplus explosives.

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Silver azide is the chemical compound with the formula AgN3. It is a silver(I) salt of hydrazoic acid. It forms a colorless crystals. Like most azides, it is a primary explosive.

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Tovex is a water-gel explosive composed of ammonium nitrate and methylammonium nitrate that has several advantages over traditional dynamite, including lower toxicity and safer manufacture, transport, and storage. It has thus almost entirely replaced dynamite. There are numerous versions ranging from shearing charges to aluminized common blasting agents. Tovex is used by 80% of international oil companies for seismic exploration.

Explosive materials are produced in numerous physical forms for their use in mining, engineering, or military applications. The different physical forms and fabrication methods are grouped together in several use forms of explosives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water gel explosive</span>

A water-gel explosive is a fuel sensitized explosive mixture consisting of an aqueous ammonium nitrate solution that acts as the oxidizer. Water gels that are cap-insensitive are referred to under United States safety regulations as blasting agents. Water gel explosives have a jelly-like consistency and come in sausage-like packing stapled shut on both sides.

Nitroxylic acid or hydronitrous acid is an unstable reduced oxonitrogen acid. It has formula H4N2O4 containing nitrogen in the +2 oxidation state. The corresponding anion called nitroxylate is N
2
O4−
4
or NO2−
2
.

References

  1. Dictionary of Explosives, Arthur Marshall, p. 18
  2. A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, Thomas Edward Thorpe, p. 468
  3. The Manufacture of Explosives, Oscar Guttman, p. 231