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Lord G
2008-12-06, 06:41
Does anyone have a list of various amatuer rocket fuel compositions? I have seen various articles detailing sugar rockets and more exotic and difficult to obtain fuels, but very few compositions that use fuels that are not overly difficult or expensive to obtain.

asilentbob
2008-12-06, 06:55
Theres generally only about 3 useable oxidizers for solid fuel... potassium nitrate, potassium perchlorate, or ammonium perchlorate...

And of the fuels... theres really not that many that work all that well.

Sure theres things like Zn/S... but its so dense weight wise that it generally isn't worth it... And ammonium nitrate/resin mixes are possible... but ammonium nitrate is just so damn hygroscopic that most pure pyros avoid working with it like the plague, so much hassle.

Black powder -ish mixes are easy for rockets as many times you don't need to mill the actual composition, just the individual chemicals. Then can use a machined aluminum or brass spindel and hollow rammers and a mallet to add the nozzel and increments of fuel...

Whistle propellants need to be pressed in increments hydralicly behind some sort of blast shield. And need a benzoate or salicylate salt usually along with potassium perchlorate. The level of integration is critical.

I don't have much knowledge of ammonium perchlorate based rocket fuels, though i have heard that they don't always have to be cast with a resin, some can be hydrallicly pressed like whistle rockets so long as one of the fuels is a solid resinous gum that will keep it all together after pressing. I'd imagine that red gum would work somewhat.

Some here:
http://members.shaw.ca/gryphon223/PFP/
http://www.wfvisser.dds.nl/compoDB.html
http://www.jackerypyro.com/formulary.html

warweed12
2008-12-06, 08:31
im partial to N2O or O2 / Cast Tar based rockets .. i use standard roofing tar "slugs" with a core and shoot N2O through the mix with a specially machined nozzle and "combustion" chamber been a while though next time i bust out the rig i will take pictures