Improvements in or relating to Explosives.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Explosives.
We, WILLIAM GREAVES, Chemist, and EDMUND MILLS HANN, Civil Engineer,
both of Aberaman, near Aberdare, County of Glamorgan, Wales, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to form a gunpowder which will be both safer
and cheaper to manufacture than our former modifications of gunpowders, and
which can be safely used for blasting purposes in fiery and dusty mines.
Our invention consists in substituting for either the whole or a part of the sulphur
which heretofore has formed an ingredient of gunpowder and which is the cause
of the explosions in powder mills, one or more of the following salts, acids or salts
thereof Oxalic acid, formic acid, tartaric acid, acetic acid, the alums, the car-
bonate of ammonium, the carbonate of soda, the sulphates of ammonium, soda or
potash and the chloride of ammonium.
The salt however we prefer to employ is the ammonium salt of oxalic acid or
ammonium oxalate.
We have found a gunpowder of the following composition gives good results:-
Saltpetre 75 per cent., carbon 15 per cent. and ammonium oxalate 10 per cent.
But it will be understood that these proportions and ingredients can be modified
to suit requirements, for instance other oxidising agents than saltpetre may be used,
a part of the sulphur may be retained, and only a proportion substituted, and in
place of ammonium oxalate one of the other salts, acids or salts thereof, enumerated
above, may be substituted, or a combination of one or more of them with ammonium
oxalate.
If desired we may substitute for the sulphur generally used borax or boracic acid
with which may be mixed one or more of the salts, acids or salts thereof mentioned
above.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of this invention is to form a blasting powder similar in its action to
gunpowder which will be both safer and cheaper to manufacture than our former
modifications of gunpowders, and which can be safely used for blasting purposes
in fiery and dusty mines.
--
Our invention consists in substituting for either the whole or a part of the sulphur
which heretofore has formed an ingredient of gunpowder and which is said to be
the cause of the explosions in powder mills, one or more of the following:
Oxalic acid, ammonium oxalate, potassium oxalate, sodium oxalate or the double
salts or acid salts of the above such as for instance:
.
C₂H (NH) O. H₂O or C₂ H (N H₁) O. C₂ H₂ O. 2 H₂O. These salts may be
used either in the hydrated or dehydrated condition.
The salt however we prefer to employ is the neutral ammonium salt of oxalic acid
or neutral ammonium oxalate.
We have found the following compositions give good results:-
It will be understood that these proportions and ingredients can be modified to
suit requirements, for instance other oxidising agents than saltpetre may be used,
a part of the sulphur may be retained, and only a proportion substituted, and in
place of ammonium oxalate one of the other salts or combinations, enumerated
above, may be substituted.
If desired we may substitute for the sulphur generally used borax or boracic acid
alone or mixed with one or more of the salts, or acids mentioned above.
The machinery used for the manufacture of ordinary gunpowder is applicable
for the production of these explosives. The ingredients may be added all at the
same time or at times that may be found convenient provided that the resulting
composition is thoroughly and uniformly mixed.
Where it is necessary to use very heavy blasting charges and where the explosive
occupies a considerable length of the bore-hole we may use a long primer or core
composed of an ordinary detonator and a suitable nitroglycerine explosive through-
out the length of and in the centre of the charge so as to make the whole length
of the charge explode as instantaneously as possible.
We find that the products of combustion from the compositions made without
sulphur are much less perceptible than the fumes from ordinary blasting powder
and being free from sulphur compounds they are not so objectionable.
The explosive may be made up in any suitable form such as grain or compressed
pellets. It may be fired either by detonator or other suitable means such as ordinary
electric fuse.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. A blasting powder, similar in its action to gunpowder, in which an oxalate
preferably neutral ammonium, oxalate is substituted for the whole or a part of the
sulphur heretofore employed.
2. A blasting powder, similar in its action to gunpowder, in which borax, or

page_text: boracic acid alone or mixed with one or more of the salts or acids above mentioned
is substituted for the whole or a part of the sulphur heretofore employed.
Dated this 10th day of January 1898.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.