[AR] Re: PEPCON AP explosion report
- From: Peter Fairbrother <zenadsl6186@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2015 22:31:15 +0100
On 20/07/15 22:00, Anthony Cesaroni wrote:
...and pressure. Remember AP is not just an oxidizer, it's a
monopropellant. Once you get it above ~700 psi, it will run quite
nicely on its own with a theoretical Isp of around 170.
Anthony.
Yes - and it's not just gas pressure.
If you have a big pile of AP the crystals press against each other,
compressing them - even though there is air or gas at atmospheric
pressure surrounding the crystals, the crystals at the bottom of the
pile are still under pressure.
Then it gets hot .. and the surface melts, so product gas is trapped and
the gas pressure and temperature rises .. and polythene containers melt,
adding fuel to the mess .. and the mess slumps when the containers melt,
increasing average density .. and AP itself melts, increasing density
yet again, and making shock wave transmission easier, more efficient,
and faster .. and the mass involved is such that the available radius is
very large, and shock waves are near-planar, making energy transmission
more efficient .. and BOOM!
Ammonium nitrate does much the same too.
-- Peter Fairbrother
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