Black Powder - I

A while ago, we studied about black powder in two separate posts. Since we've studied the processes of obtaining the basic ingredients of black powder (saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur) in great detail in some of our previous posts in the last few months, we will study the processes of combining them into black powder in some detail in the next series of posts.

Before we start our study of black powder manufacture, let us discuss the proportions of the ingredients of black powder. While it is true that many countries had settled with the proportions of 75% saltpeter, 10% sulfur and 15% charcoal by the 18th and 19th centuries, this wasn't always true in all countries. Moreover, the proportions also varied a bit, depending on the use for the black powder. For instance, powder intended for military rifles differed in composition than powders intended for sporting applications, which differed from powders used for blasting purposes, powder used for fireworks etc. We have some information about the composition of powders made in various countries, courtesy of Oscar Guttman's book "Manufacture of Explosives" from 1895 (note that some of the countries have different names now)

	Saltpeter	Sulfur	Charcoal
(a) Rifle Powders:
Austria-Hungary	75	10	15
Belgium	75.5	12	12.5
China	75	10	15
France	75	10	15
Germany	74	10	16
Great Britain	75	10	15
Holland	70	14	16
Italy	75	10	15
Persia	75	12.5	12.5
Portugal	75.7	10.7	13.6
Russia	75	10	15
Spain	75	12.5	12.5
Sweden	75	10	15
Switzerland	75	11	14
Turkey	75	10	15
USA	75	10	15
(b) Cannon Powders:
Austria-Hungary	74	10	16
France	75	10	15
Germany	74	10	16
Great Britain	75	10	15
Switzerland	75	10	15
(c) Sporting Powders:
Austria-Hungary	76	9.4	14.6
France	78	10	12
Germany	74	10	16
Great Britain	75	10	15
Switzerland	78	9	13
(d) Blasting Powders:
Austria-Hungary	60.2	18.4	21.4
France	72	13	15
Germany	70	14	16
Great Britain	75	10	15
Italy	78	18	12
Russia	66.6	16.7	16.7

As can be seen above, many countries varied the proportions of the ingredients based on the intended use of the powder. Note that the blasting powders vary in proportion much more than the rest. This is because blasting powder's requirements were that it should be cheap and develop as much gas as possible at a high temperature. Actually, blasting powders were more varied than the table indicates because powders with different rates of burning were used for rocks of different hardness. So even though the table above suggests that the French were manufacturing blasting powder with the ingredients in 72%, 13% and 15% ratio, that was only one grade and the French Government factories actually made 3 grades of blasting powder:

	Saltpeter	Sulfur	Charcoal
Ordinary Powder	62	20	18
Slow Powder	40	30	30
Strong Powder	72	13	15

Similarly, some blasting powders in England were made of different proportions (e.g.) 65% saltpeter, 20% sulfur, 15% charcoal.

Powders manufactured in Belgium had the following compositions depending on the purpose:

	Saltpeter	Sulfur	Charcoal
Rifle Powder	75	12.5	12.5
Cannon Powder	75	12.5	12.5
Sporting Powder	78	10	12
Blasting Powder	75	12	13
Slow Powder or Pulverin	70	13	14 & 3% wood meal
Slow Powder in cartridges	70	13	14 & 3% dextrine
Export Powder	68	18	22

In France, "pulverin" was also manufactured for use in fireworks and contained 75% saltpeter, 12.5% sulfur and 12.5% charcoal mixed together.

In the next couple of posts, we will study the grain sizes of black powder in the 19th century.