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A saltpetre works or nitrary [1] is a place of production of potassium nitrate or saltpetre used primarily for the manufacture of gunpowder. The saltpeter occurs naturally in certain places like the "Caves of Salnitre" known since the Neolithic.
For instance, power grades of black powder, unsuitable for use in firearms but adequate for blasting rock in quarrying operations, are called blasting powder rather than gunpowder with standard proportions of 70% nitrate, 14% charcoal, and 16% sulfur; blasting powder may be made with the cheaper sodium nitrate substituted for potassium nitrate ...
The use of potassium nitrate has been mostly discontinued because it gives slow and inconsistent results compared with sodium nitrite preparations such as "Prague powder" or pink "curing salt". Even so, potassium nitrate is still used in some food applications, such as salami, dry-cured ham, charcuterie , and (in some countries) in the brine ...
Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formulation and the smokeless propellant which replaced it are commonly described as gunpowder. The combustion products of smokeless ...
Early formulations including partially nitrated cellulose with potassium nitrate or barium nitrate were more successful in shotguns than in rifles. [ 3 ] : 287–289 Nitrocellulose produces greater volumes of gas per volume of solid than black powder does, so nitrocellulose bulk powders were less dense than later smokeless powders.
The Nitre and Mining Bureau is most known for their production of saltpeter (potassium nitrate) for the Confederacy. Because of the blockade of Southern ports, imported supplies of gunpowder and materials were kept away from the Confederacy, and had to be supplied within their own borders. Priority was given to the manufacture of gunpowder.
In contact with potassium nitrate (e.g. in black powder) produces potassium perchlorate and hygroscopic ammonium nitrate; no such reaction with sodium nitrate. Reacts with potassium chlorate, producing unstable, gradually decomposing ammonium chlorate; such combination has to be avoided. [1] Nitronium perchlorate
Gunpowder (Black powder) is a finely ground, pressed and granulated mechanical pyrotechnic mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate. It can be produced in a range of grain sizes. The size and shape of the grains can increase or decrease the relative surface area, and change the burning rate significantly.