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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" ( Collbató ) known since the Neolithic.
Potassium nitrate is one of several nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as saltpetre (or saltpeter in the US). [5] Major uses of potassium nitrate are in fertilizers, tree stump removal, rocket propellants and fireworks. It is one of the major constituents of traditional gunpowder (black powder). [6]
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur , charcoal (which is mostly carbon ), and potassium nitrate (saltpeter) .
The combustion products of smokeless powder are mainly gaseous, compared to around 55% solid products (mostly potassium carbonate, potassium sulfate, and potassium sulfide) for black powder. [1] In addition, smokeless powder does not leave the thick, heavy fouling of hygroscopic material associated with black powder that causes rusting of the ...
Gunpowder, an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate (also known as saltpeter), was the original propellant employed in firearms and fireworks.It was used from about the 10th or 11th century onward, but it had disadvantages, including the large amount of smoke it produced.
Although all firearm propellants are generally called powder, [1] the term gunpowder originally described mixtures of charcoal and sulfur with potassium nitrate as an oxidizing agent. [ 2 ] : 133, 137 By the 20th century these early propellants were largely replaced by smokeless powder of nitrocellulose or similarly nitrated organic compounds .
It’s often used in select foods to give it a red color. Despite its wide use in certain foods in the U.S., it’s controversial and banned in some forms in this country. Why is red dye No. 3 bad?
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.