my scientific age

Chapter 140 Rocket Propellant!
According to the proportion of the formula, Yu Hua, with a natural complexion, precisely added 1.7% of diphenylamine to glue-packed nitrocellulose to improve chemical stability, and then added 1.5% of camphor as a desensitizing agent to increase the burning speed of gunpowder and obtain special Belonging to the "intensive" performance in the field of gunpowder, it improves the ballistic performance of gunpowder.

After adding the auxiliary components of the single-base drug, put it aside for now, Yu Hua turned his attention to the dried A-grade nitrocellulose, and put all of them into the beaker.

After putting in all the ingredients of the single-base propellant, Yu Hua picked up the glass rod with his right hand, put it into the cup and kept stirring it to make it fully mixed.

Xu Rui stayed by and observed silently, taking note of Yu Hua's stirring process and speed.

After a few minutes, the two kinds of nitrocellulose in the beaker were completely mixed, the color was light yellow, the shape was compact and loose, similar to dough.

A single-base drug for guns, freshly baked.

"Huh..." Yu Hua took out the glass rod with a little liquid medicine, and heaved a sigh of relief. After working for so long, it was finally done.

Xu Rui's voice came: "Sir, did you succeed?"

"Successful, Ruizi, do you understand?" Yu Hua nodded, then turned to look at Xu Rui, only to see that he was full of curiosity, with a desire for knowledge in his eyes, smiled, and said to Xu Rui.

"I understand the configuration steps, but I don't understand the others." Xu Rui was startled when he heard Yu Hua's voice, and replied truthfully.

Xu Rui has basically written down the final configuration process of the entire single-base drug and the proportions of various materials, but as for the functions and effects of various ingredients, he does not know.

In one sentence, he knows how to do it, but he doesn't know why he should do it.

Yu Hua asked, "How much camphor is put in?"

"1.5%." Xu Rui heard this and knew that this was Mr. Yu Hua's thinking about himself. He recalled it and gave the exact number.

"At which step should graphite be used?" Yu Hua nodded and continued to ask.

Xu Rui thought about the question carefully, and after two seconds, he gave the answer: "The graphite is added after the gunpowder is granulated and dried, which is the last step."

"That's right, I remember it very clearly, do you have the confidence to configure the second propellant?" Yu Hua asked without hesitation in his praise, nodding in satisfaction.

Xu Rui was silent for a second, his eyes showed a hint of longing: "Yes."

"Ruizi, help me get the 35-mesh sieve, granulate first, and wait for you to prepare the second propellant." Yu Hua nodded and arranged.

After stirring, the next step is extrusion granulation.

The granulation technology originated more than 500 years ago has greatly improved the explosive power of black powder. This is a revolution in the field of gunpowder technology. So far, gunpowder granulation has become the core process in the field of gunpowder.

The requirement for propellant powder for guns is that the smaller the better, the advantages of small particles are very obvious. First, it burns evenly. Second, it has high combustion efficiency. Third, it can modify the combustion chamber pressure by artificially controlling the particle density.

If high energy levels are the tireless goal of every gunpowder scientist, then the granulation of gunpowder is the eternal dream of military weapons.

The current mainstream propellant particle technology can achieve a technological level in the range of 35 mesh to 40 mesh. Mesh is a unit of measurement, indicating the number of holes on an inch. 2 mesh is 2 times 2, which is equal to 4 holes.

40 mesh is equal to 40 times 40, equal to 1600 holes.

For the field of gunpowder particles, the higher the mesh number and the smaller the particle size, the higher the technology.

Hearing Yu Hua's arrangement, Xu Rui turned and left. Not long after, he returned to the operating table with a 35-mesh metal screen and handed it to Yu Hua.

Yu Hua took over the brand new and clean metal screen, placed a container with a layer of graphite under it, and then put the moist liquid medicine in the beaker on the metal screen, and squeezed it hard.

The function of graphite is to increase the packing density and conductivity of gunpowder in the cartridge, and improve the luster of gunpowder, which is why most gunpowder in later generations is black.

Instead of black powder, they use graphite 'black powder' rolled once.

In an instant, the squeezed moist liquid medicine passed through the pores of the metal mesh and turned into extremely fine cylindrical shapes.

"Ruizi, cut it." Yu Hua said quickly.

"Yes!"

Xu Rui picked up the prepared metal plate, gently slid out the other side of the sieve, cut the medicine pillars one by one, broke them apart, and formed granules, all of which fell into the container below, contaminating the graphite.

Extrude, cut.

The whole process is completely handmade.

Not long after, the container was filled with black granular propellant powder, and the first gun was made with single-base powder.

"Ruizi, take it to the kitchen and dry it. You configure the second propellant powder on the other side of the console, pay attention to safety." Yu Hua said to Xu Rui.

"Ruizi understands." Hearing Yu Hua's arrangement, Xu Rui nodded, and went to the kitchen with a container full of finished single-based propellants.

The kitchen has become a relatively closed space, burning briquettes inside, and the heat released makes the whole room a 'drying room', with a temperature of about 45 degrees Celsius, which is not very formal, but it is more practical.

"The process of manually producing single-base propellants in the laboratory has been fully figured out. With the basic industrial level of the Eighth Route Army, it is not a problem to get manual production of propellants. There is no rush for the mechanical production technology of single-base propellants. Priority is given to double-base propellants. Have a good foundation, and then upgrade it.” After Xu Rui left, Yu Hua picked up the experimental notebook and Parker pen, and recorded the experimental steps while thinking.

After finishing the recording, the whole person turned his eyes to the beaker containing nitroglycerin, took a deep breath, and began to configure the nitrocellulose used in the double-base propellant.

Lay the foundation, and then upgrade.

There is no rush to engage in scientific research, and even less to engage in explosives.

The configuration of single-base propellant is not particularly dangerous, but the risk factor of developing double-base propellant is the highest.

That's right, Yu Hua's goal today is not to get the single-base propellant, but to get the second gunpowder technology...

Double base propellant!
As the eldest brother of the nitro compound family, the two brothers, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, who take care of each other, don't have much effect.

Taken out alone, the former can be used as propellant for guns, and the latter can be used as explosives and propellant, propellant additives and so on.

If the two are combined, it will become the propellant of the artillery that is discolored and the propellant of the rocket that has not yet shown its charm to the world.

Not to mention mortar powder and large-caliber gun powder. During World War II, the Katyusha rocket was an epoch-making rocket. The M-13 rocket used was a solid double-base propulsion developed based on nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin. agent fuel.

Rocket propellant, this is the beginning of dreams.

In order to plan advanced weapons, the underlying foundation must be laid. In Yu Hua's conception, regardless of whether the Eighth Route Army will use rocket launchers in the future, the basic technology must be settled.

I don't have to, but I have to.

Having and not having it are not the same thing.

Yu Hua first developed the mortar powder with the lowest technical content. As the artillery propellant, the nitrocellulose used in the double-base drug is D-grade nitrocellulose with low nitrogen content and alcohol-ether solubility of about 98%.

The whole person wrote down the detailed steps in the experimental notebook, and then followed the research and development steps to produce D-grade nitrocellulose.

Prepare mixed acid, put it into refined cotton, and wait for the esterification reaction to be tested to confirm the quality and grade. When Xu Rui carefully prepared the second single-base propellant, a D-grade nitrated propellant known as "weak cotton" The cotton is finished.

Immediately afterwards, Yu Hua looked at the nitroglycerine that had already been prepared.

Open the lid, pick up the beaker, tilt the mouth of the beaker, and slowly pour the light yellow viscous liquid into the weak cotton with low nitrogen content.

Nitroglycerin is strictly defined as a nitroglycerin ester energetic plasticizer, which can improve the plasticity of the propellant skeleton material and significantly increase the energy level of the propellant. The higher the content of nitroglycerin in nitrocellulose, the higher its energy density, detonation temperature and sensitivity. big.

This is the soul of the entire double base drug formula.

Without nitroglycerin, the energy density and comprehensive performance of nitrocellulose alone cannot meet the launch requirements of large-caliber artillery.

For heavy weapons equipped in the military field, the main requirements for propellants are high energy level, low ablation, high gradual increase, reasonable powder column shape, less flame and less smoke.

The first requirement is a high energy level.

The propellant does not have enough energy density, and the parameters of the fired shell, such as lethality, penetration, initial velocity, ballistic performance and range, will be seriously affected.

It is worth mentioning that when nitroglycerin is added to nitrocellulose as an energetic plasticizer, its mechanical sensitivity will be greatly reduced, and it will no longer explode when touched.

These are all the precious experiences that the ancestors of mankind gained after going through bloody experiments on the road of controlling gunpowder. Yu Hua remembers it clearly.

At this moment, Xu Rui, who was preparing the single-based medicine, stopped his hands and kept his eyes on Yu Hua who was pouring the nitroglycerin. He held his breath and didn't even dare to breathe.

After receiving Yu Hua's science popularization, he finally understood the power of this bottle of yellow liquid.

After pouring in about 40% nitroglycerin in total, Yu Hua put down the beaker containing the remaining nitroglycerin, then picked up a glass rod, and dipped it into the beaker for stirring.

The movement is slight and the amplitude is not large.

The stirring process is extremely dangerous, as long as the movement is a little too big, it will be over.

With Yu Hua's careful stirring, the nitroglycerin in the beaker and the D-grade nitrocellulose fully contacted to produce a chemical reaction and slowly dissolved together.

(End of this chapter)