Chemical Forums
Specialty Chemistry Forums => Citizen Chemist => Topic started by: FinEvitable on October 24, 2007, 10:33:59 AM
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Hi there!
I know the reaction with Potassium permanganate and glycerine is a very vigorous reaction, But i was wondering if it is energetic enough to create a supersonic gas explosion when put into a confined space? Like in pyrotechnics tubes for instance??
Ive experimented with perchlorates and nitrates for my home made rocket fuels and i was thinking of trying a permanganate fuel that i could just add a drop of glycerine too to ignite and hopefully propel the rocket, but i need to know that its not going to be too powerfull and blow my rocket casing to smithereens lol.
Thanks
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First of all, permanganate is the oxidizer not the fuel. Secondly, permanganate/fuel mixtures tend to be flash powders, and you will be making a pipe bomb, not a rocket engine. Thirdly, permanganate and glycerin form a hypergolic mixture and will ignite spontaneously and achieve extremely high temperatures. I fail to see how you would add the glycerin (if this is your sole fuel) to the permanganate.
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I was just curious wether using the glycerine could cause an explosion. Ive only ever done it with a small pile of permanganate and a drop of glycerine, and the reaction took about 15 seconds before it initiated. I always thought it would be too slow of a reaction to be used as a propelleant or an explosive.
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Thats just an induction period. Imagine a whole tube full of it going off simultaneously. I don't think you'd have a tube left. :P
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Permanganate as a solid oxidizer in pyrotechnic mixtures is very dangerous. I can be (and is) used in flash compositions, but not in slow-burning compositions, needed for rocketry. Stick to the nitrate/sugar mixes, these are slow-burning.
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Permanganate mixtures are known to be rather unstable. They are highly energetic, and unpredictable. As such, they are not widely employed in pyrotechnic use. They are, unfortunately, used by amateurs who are uninformed as to the dangers of this material. I would avoid using them for rockets. Ignition time on them is difficult to gauge. Much depends on particle size, humidity, temperature and a number of other variables. The best thing to do is stick to potassium nitrate/sugar mixtures, as everyone else here has said. If that's not good enough for you, go check out black powder rockets on the web. There's plenty of info out there.
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Thanks for the help there!
I like experimenting with different pyrotechnic mixtures but its good to know which ones to stay clear of.
thanks for the advice!
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Dear FinEvitable,
A very wise Idea!
I did it twice – the mixture Permanganate/Glycerine –, the worst of all: You never know when the Explosion starts ignited by itself, because it is very spontaneous!
Good Luck!
ARGOS++