Chapter 848： Accidentally made smokeless gunpowder (Part 2)

For example, in the Russo-Japanese War and the Battle of Mahai, the Russian Pacific Fleet was defeated by the Japanese Fleet. If he is a liberal arts historian, he will make a fuss about what he says about Russia, the officers and soldiers are under-trained, and he is also involved in the political system. It seems that the Russian fleet will inevitably fail without him.

However, they did not notice a detail at all-the naval artillery and explosives of the two paralyzed navies are different ...

Japan used Xiaze gunpowder (picric acid) stolen from France, with a detonation rate of 7350m / s, which was used as early as the Sino-Japanese War. The Russians used the B gunpowder imported from the French, which is the first generation of smokeless gunpowder. This kind of gunpowder is actually a propellant after processing, and it is a single-base propellant with a detonation speed of only about 2000m / s. Japan ’s Shimo Gunpowder has a detonation speed of more than 3.6 times, and also has its own burning and poisonous smoke effects ... The same shells, the explosive power of the explosion is too big, the Russians naturally lost ... Do n’t take the gun caliber with me Let ’s first ask about the huge difference in the power of the war department gunpowder ...

In fact, the Russians were also out of luck, because 1905, when the war against the horse broke out, coincided with the development of gunpowder technology. Although TNT has also come out, the applicable and mass production technologies are not perfect. In addition, these technologies are still in the hands of developed Western European countries such as Britain, France and Germany, and have not yet spread to Russia.

Japan ’s Shiseki gunpowder is also a new way. The biggest problem with picric acid is that it easily reacts with metal shells and then causes self-detonation. But the devil scientist Yasu Shimo invented a very simple method-don't you react with the metal shell? I put a layer of paraffin on the inner layer of the metal shell of the shell warhead to isolate the bitter acid from the metal shell. Isn't it okay? Then, the Japanese Navy rose ...

If we only discuss the power of naval guns at that time, the Japanese navy would surpass the British and French at that time. However, because the scale is totally incomparable with others, and they even have to buy boats with others, they cannot be ranked.

However, after the emergence of Shimo Gunpowder, the first bad luck was the Beiyang Fleet. The imported armored ships used by the Beiyang Fleet are not fake. Kenima ’s shells actually use black gunpowder, which is several times worse than the B gunpowder imported from France by the Russians. In the face of Xiaze gunpowder, can it not be beaten ...

Let's compare the blasting speed-the blasting speed of Japanese gunpowder 7350m / s, Russian B gunpowder 2000m / s, Beiyang fleet black gunpowder 500m / s ......

In fact, the Russians are the worst. In a few years, it will be able to buy TNT technology with the power of no less than the gunpowder of Xiase from Britain and France ...

Therefore, the Russians fought a wrong naval battle at the wrong time. Russian Maozi is not lacking in courage, but the shell power is less than one-third of others ... this battle cannot be fought ...

As for "I Qing", let alone mention it. When smokeless gunpowder appeared, other countries were able to spend a lot of money to introduce technology for production. However, the pure liberal arts (Confucian) officials of the Qing dynasty only knew the introduction of gun production technology, but did not know the improvement of gunpowder technology.

Even after the German "1888 Committee Rifle" and Mauser's new smokeless gunpowder rifle were installed in the troops, they felt that the rifle originally equipped with the German Mauser m1871 black gunpowder propellant could not be wasted, so it was sold to the Qing. military. The Beiyang Army did not know that other people were eliminating the garbage sale, and bought it as a baby-look, I have a large number of "Mauser fast guns" in Daqing, powerful ...

...

What is the difference between a black powder rifle and a smokeless powder rifle? First, the caliber is different. The Mauser 1871 caliber is 11.15mm, and the bullet size is 11.15mm * 60mm. The new Mauser rifle using smokeless propellant, the bullet is 7.92 * 57mm. Obviously, the two bullets are very different in size. Using 7.92 bullets, you can carry a lot more ... Moreover, not to mention that the black gunpowder barrel needs to be cleaned up frequently, and the smoke of black gunpowder blocks the sight ...

What ’s more amazing is that the flame temperature of the single-base smokeless propellant is actually lower than that of the black powder—the black flame powder ’s deflagration flame temperature is about 2800 degrees, while the single-base smokeless propellant ’s The temperature of the deflagration flame is only about 2500 degrees, which is about 300 degrees Celsius lower ... And the consequence of this is that the use of single-base smokeless propellants, the barrel is not as hot as the black gunpowder ...

However, in terms of power, the single-base smokeless propellant is three times as powerful as the black powder ...

Here we need to mention a concept-specific volume. That is, the amount of gas produced by the explosion of one kilogram of propellant (in liters L)-black gunpowder is 280L / kg, and the single-base smokeless propellant is 993L / kg (this data is the data of the US military M6 single-base propellant , And the M6 ​​propellant is a 155 mm large caliber howitzer).

Although the performance of the original French version B gunpowder was inferior to that of later generations of US military M6 propellants, the specific volume was no more than three times that of black gunpowder.

The process of the bullets or shells being pushed out of the barrel or barrel is actually the gas generated after the gunpowder detonates. The longer the barrel or barrel, the longer the work time, the greater the initial velocity of the warhead when it leaves the pipeline. After leaving the muzzle or muzzle, it is by inertia. Because, there is no gunpowder gas to push the warhead forward.

In the case of a fixed length of barrel or shell, it is clear that the more gunpowder gas, the stronger the thrust, the greater the initial velocity of the bullet. Therefore, the caliber of a single-base smokeless propellant can be much smaller than that of a black gunpowder. Moreover, the ablation of the barrel is weaker than the use of black powder ...

The modern guns generally use more powerful double-base or even triple-base propellants. This is because the double-base and triple-base propellants are more powerful, can make the bullets smaller, and the caliber of the firearms is smaller ... So, when the firearms are cleared, the bullets can also bring more ... for example, modern NATO The caliber of the mainstream rifle is 5.56 mm, and that of China is 5.8 mm ... this is much smaller than the 7.92 mm of the Germans and the 8 mm of the French in World War I ...

However, this comes at a price. Although the caliber of modern rifles is small, the ablation power of double-base and triple-base gunpowder is stronger, and the ablation of the rifle is very serious. Therefore, the barrel of the modern rifle needs to use special steel, or the inner wall of the barrel is chrome plated to increase the barrel life. For example, a 56 and a half rifle using 45 carbon steel has a barrel life of 10,000 rounds. And after the inner wall is chrome plated, the service life becomes more than 100,000 rounds ...

Of course, that's what bi- and tri-base drugs require. If we use a single-base propellant with a low ablative force, we will use ordinary carbon steel ... For example, made by Hanyang, we will use the inferior steel of the Hanyang Iron Works, and it will fly as well ...

...

As a military fan, Marin obviously knew the formula of the famous B gunpowder-98% nitrocellulose, 2% paraffin ... After dissolving in a 1: 3 solution of ethanol and ether, it can be dried after air drying ... Then rub Cut into strips, cut particles ...

However, Marin now has no paraffin in his hands. Moreover, paraffin is the lowest stabilizer, in fact, beeswax can also be used instead. Anyway, both can also be dissolved in this 1: 3 solution of ethanol and ether.

However, what Marin lacks now is not only paraffin, but also nitrocellulose as the main body ... because Marin does not have cotton now ...

Fortunately, nitrocellulose is also called nitrocellulose. If there is no cotton, Marin will use linen instead of chant ... Anyway, it is all fiber, and the quality is the most poor ...

...

After obtaining nitrocellulose, Marin took beeswax and dissolved it in a 1: 3 solution of ethanol and ether together with nitrocellulose. Fearing that the stability is not enough, Marin directly increased the proportion of beeswax to 3%, lest the stability of gunpowder be insufficient.

You know, although the single-base smokeless propellant is called a propellant, it is more powerful than black powder. Its weakness is only compared with those explosives of later generations. In terms of explosive power, the single-base smokeless propellant is several times that of black gunpowder ... For the sake of life safety, Marin increased the proportion of beeswax ...

Next, it was air-dried ...

In fact, in later generations, there is a way to recover ether. It seems that what vacuum distillation is used. However, after all, Marin is only a middle school chemistry expert, not a college student in chemical engineering. Therefore, it does not understand any vacuum distillation technology. Moreover, in the 19th century, it seemed that the chemists at that time also chose to let ether dissipate in the air during the air-drying process for safety ... Although this is a waste of ether, it is safer ...

When the air was almost dry, Marin let people wash these squishy stand-alone propellants, and it was several rounds of washing ...

This was seen in an article on the introduction of propellant in World War I-as mentioned above, the early B gunpowder, because of the large amount of alcohol ether remaining, caused unstable performance, easy to spontaneous combustion and cause an explosion. At that time, France even had a warship sunk by the gunpowder depot ...

The United States and France had a good relationship. After the introduction of B gunpowder technology, Americans found that as long as they pay attention to cleaning afterwards and wash away those alcohol ether components, the safety of gunpowder will be greatly improved.

Of course, this does not mean that it is completely okay. Later, the French not only stricted the cleaning process before World War I, but also found a better stabilizer-diphenylamine. The stability of diphenylamine is far more than paraffin, which can make B gunpowder very stable. Then, this new stand-alone propellant with diphenylamine added was called "BM" gunpowder. The United States imports are called M series. For example, the M6 ​​gunpowder still used in later generations is the later version of this gunpowder ...

...

After cleaning, Marin let people dry the single-base smokeless powder, then rub the strips and cut them into granules. After that, people added another process-surface passivation ...

According to the theory of later generations, it is better to burn the propellant of long-tube weapons slowly, so that the gas expansion will be slow (relative) and lasting. In the rifle barrel and barrel, the gas produced by the propellant will work longer.

Therefore, the gunpowder of later generations is often passivated on the particle surface ...

How to passivate it? In later generations, China and other countries used camphor. Camphor can be dissolved in alcohol and ether, but it is difficult to dissolve in water ... Taking advantage of this feature, camphor can be dissolved in alcohol first, and then sprayed on the surface of the granular gunpowder ... For example, use a piece of gauze to place the granular gunpowder Spray camphor alcohol solution on the surface ... When the alcohol is air-dried, there will be a thin layer of camphor film on the surface of the gunpowder particles ...

This camphor membrane can make gunpowder slow when it burns initially ... but when it burns into the inside, the burning speed will accelerate ...

As it happens, when the gunpowder gas pushes the bullet towards the muzzle, when the bullet approaches the muzzle, it is also the time when the surface-passivated gunpowder particles burn most intensely. Then, the bullet was pushed out of the barrel by the most powerful gunpowder gas thrust, and the initial speed reached the maximum ...

...

Camphor is an excellent deactivator, but it is clear that Marin does not have ...

But this thing, Marin will have in the future. Why? Because he planned to occupy the island of Taiwan, it is a kingdom of camphor ... There are camphor trees everywhere, and if you want camphor, it is not easy to die?

The stability of camphor is obviously very good. Nobel, the explosive king, also made a double-base smokeless propellant in 1887-equal amounts of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, plus 10% camphor ... The medicine is more powerful, but France has already adopted B gunpowder at that time, and everyone's production line is ready. You Nobel jumped out and want to smash people's jobs? Therefore, Nobel was persecuted by France, the French factory was sealed, and I was forced to exile in Italy ...

However, there is no camphor in Malin's hands now. How to passivate the gunpowder particles?

Quite simply, Marin still intends to use beeswax ...

He soaked beeswax in alcohol, slowly dissolved, and then sprayed beeswax alcohol solution on the gunpowder particles. Finally, make the gunpowder particles have a beeswax film ... Of course, pay attention to the concentration, if the gunpowder particles are all beeswax, it will not burn ...

While spraying the alcohol solution of beeswax, Marin also made a little graphite and pressed it into a very fine powder, blending the appearance of spraying smokeless gunpowder particles in the alcohol solution of beeswax ...

Graphite can prevent static electricity and is an important component of later generation gunpowder. Although generally only a small proportion, or even less than one percent, it is also very important ...

Graphite is not soluble in organic solvents, but graphite powder can be attached to the surface of smokeless gunpowder particles by the wetting characteristics of beeswax alcohol solution. The static electricity is generated on the surface, and the graphite powder is on the surface, which just plays a role ...

Alcohol can not dissolve nitrocellulose ~ www.novelhall.com ~ Although it can dissolve beeswax on the surface, this is originally an alcohol solution of beeswax, which naturally forms a protective film of beeswax after air drying ...

After washing and air-drying, Marin made the world's first single-base smokeless powder 377 years in advance ... Moreover, because of the use of multiple rounds of cleaning, surface passivation technology, and the addition of graphite powder, making this Once a single-base smokeless gunpowder came out, it was a mature version ...

Its only shortcoming is that the production cost is too high-during the production process, all the alcohol and ether are scattered in the air because of air drying, and they cannot be recovered ...

You know, Marlin ’s alcohol is all extracted from grain wine, and ether is made by concentrated sulfuric acid and alcohol laboratory production methods ... Now food is so expensive, concentrated sulfuric acid is also very rare ... So, this kind of single The cost of base smokeless gunpowder is a big drop ...

Therefore, this smokeless gunpowder is currently only a beta version and can only be used for internal testing. You must wait until you have a way to reduce costs before you can use it on a large scale. Otherwise, Marin cannot afford the cost of using smokeless gunpowder on a large scale. However, in a few elite troops, Marin can still be applied on a small scale. For example, in some key battles, the use of more powerful smokeless powder can change the situation ...