Sodium nitrate black powder

[mormanman]

Does anyone know anything about Sodium nitrate black powder?

Is it a better investment?

Does it burn faster?

Does it even work?

What are the comps if it works?

 

Just throwing stuff out there.

Thanks guys. Been a big help.

[qwezxc12]

BP made with Sodium Nitrate is generally considered inferior to that made with Potassium Nitrate. It's also hygroscopic, so your powder is more likely to be damp, worsening it's performance. Unless bound with something water resistant, it will eventually become soggy and useless.

 

I think that NaNO3 does have it's uses, though. I made a metallic yellow that I like quite a bit. It's NaNO3 BP based:

 

NaNO3 75

C 15

S 10

Cryolite 10

5micron Al 5

RedGum 6

 

Bind with alcohol. Dry under warm moving air and once dry, keep enclosed in an airtight container until use. I do not store shells made with this. (I also use plastic hemi's, so that helps, too)

 

Add some coarse MgAl or Ti sponge and this is what .75" pumped stars look like in a 4in ball shell:

4in shell post - Yellow Metallic Palm

 

I've subsequently added +5% salt (NaCl) in an attempt to slow the burn time down while re-enforcing the yellow color.

[mormanman]

Wow thats a nice yellow.

[pudidotdk]

I agree, really nice homemade formula!

Have you posted it under the "Shared" formulas on passfire?

[qwezxc12]

Thanks both of you,

 

I've not posted it at Passfire, as I'm still in the tweaking phase. I thought it burnt too fast for 3/8 - 1/2 stars, so I first scaled back on the Al, and now I'm adding a retardant (salt). Once I get it where I'm happy, I'll post it here, too.

[prodigal_sun]

Nice. I really like that combo of bright yellow with a gold tail, it would be nice if you could modify it somehow to keep it dry.

[mormanman]

Heres an idea. Try putting the stars in salt to keep them dry. Salt dries the skin so why not stars. But remember its just an idea.

[Mumbles]

Salt dries the skin for different reasons. You want to keep it in a desicator with CaCl2 or something else of the nature.

 

I would personally advise to add more cryolite to slow down the comp. I just don't like NaCl in stars. It tends to make them hygroscopic and may attack the Al.

 

If you want to see something impressive, try a NaNO3/Mg star. Brighter than God. Funny thing about Na yellows, you can't wash them out with temperature.

 

Anyway, sodium nitrate BP is known as B blasting powder. You may be familiar with 2FA. With NaNO3 it would be 2FB. It burns slower, and is hygroscopic. It does a better heaving job though. Still inferior in everyway to KNO3 based powder for our uses, except maybe to launch very big shells.

[qwezxc12]

I've got 2lbs. of Teflon from Skylighter I'm saving to try in a Mg Flare. I also clipped the following from rec.pyro a long time ago when I was trying different flare compounds. Mumbles is right...NaNO3 + Mg is indeed, "brighter than God". I made the 60:40 comp with Mg shavings, rough ground NaNO3 fertilizer prills, and plain old fiberglass resin...stunk awful when it was burning, but in left purple spots on everyone's eyes around the bonfire that night,...

 

http://www.apcforum.net/files/flarecomps.jpg

[weknowpyro]

I remember a while back reading about NaNO3 black powder being known as Chile powder. This is supposedly because in the late 18th century the largest nitrate deposits were in Chile (being predominantly sodium nitrate) and most countries used these for powder, as potassium nitrate was in short supply.

 

As for the question; 'Will it burn faster?'

No it will not, because sodium is higher than potassium on the periodic table, which means it is less reactive.