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> “Well they survived long enough to achieve space flight,” Forty-five Trills pointed out. “They can’t be too careless with explosions, can they?” ...
... said no-one familiar with the history of human rocketry.
On which subject, did you know that Ignition! is back in print? Now that book definitely shouldn't be taken as a challenge.
In the iconic book Ignition! every test fire where the test stand doesn't blow up, is considered a success ;-)
The relevant passage from John Clark's "Ignition!":
>”It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.”
I liked this book. I’m sure there are newer/better sources, and this book predates 2001 I think, but gives the reader a fairly good insight into oil politics and foreign policy.
More to your question - Afghanistan has no oil fields of consequence and the elected Iraqi government sold oil leases to Total (French) and Shell (Dutch) after the war. They’ve since developed some fields on their own. No American oil company had extracted oil from Iraq.
But America has hundreds of energy companies and I wouldn’t doubt some of them worked contracts though companies that are lease holders or the Iraqi government.
The Apollo rockets used kerosene and liquid oxygen for their first (and largest) stage. The later stages used hydrogen and oxygen, instead.
Collecting and compressing large amounts of hydrogen is unbelievably dangerous, and liquid oxygen isn't far behind - but neither is exactly rare. Kerosene is an article of commerce, and while you'd want to control purity fairly carefully for rocket fuel, which costs, it's more that you need a staggering amount of it than that the fuel itself is unusually expensive.
Interestingly, one of the best books ever written on this subject, Ignition!, is back in print. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in rocketry whatsoever: it covers fuel development, spanning most of the period from the late 19th century all the way up to the Cold War. Clark's style is also eminently quotable:
> [Chlorine trifluoride] is, of course, extremely toxic, but that’s the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively. It can be kept in some of the ordinary structural metals-steel, copper, aluminium, etc.-because of the formation of a thin film of insoluble metal fluoride which protects the bulk of the metal, just as the invisible coat of oxide on aluminium keeps it from burning up in the atmosphere. If, however, this coat is melted or scrubbed off, and has no chance to reform, the operator is confronted with the problem of coping with a metal-fluorine fire. For dealing with this situation, I have always recommended a good pair of running shoes.
Get him this book: Ignition!
It is an intimate history of liquid-fueled rocket engines. It is fantastic. Unless, of course, he already has it.
Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants (book)
I believe this is some edition of the book available for free online: ignition.pdf
According to the phenomenal book "Ignition!", that's pretty much how modern rocket propellant came about. They did some theoretical work, but most of it was just "This might make a good combination, or it might blow up. Let's try it!"
I’m not sure ammonia is applicable to jet engines - I’m sure it’s been tried. Ammonia has been used as the fuel and oxidiser for rockets but by itself has too little impulse. It may show promise as a rechargeable battery substitute.
If you haven’t read it, look up Ignition! by Iohn Drury Clark for all you might ever want to know about setting fire to dangerous chemicals in the name of “coz I can”.
It's an engineering euphemism. RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) is a common abbreviation used in engineering circles. I believe the origination of the phrase was first mentioned in the 1970s book Ignition! which was a book a lot of future rocket and aerospace engineers would read before going in to the field.
"Returned to Kit Form" is a common way to say "it exploded" in model rocketry circles as well. It's just something engineers say because it sounds more intelligent than "blew up" or "exploded"
If you want to know more I loved reading Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants
To expand on this consider that from the viewpoint of OPEC countries that oil, though technically a commodity, functions as a sort of sovereign currency whose supply can be restricted or increased at will. To get a bit more abstract, dependency on oil is little different than being a subscriber state in a federal system. As in all MMT, users of a currency are virtually powerless to the sovereign currency controller and just as Greece and Italy had a crisis with the euro circa 2008 because they couldn't restructure their debt the US of the 70's couldn't restructure it's energy dependence when oil got squeezed. Well, not without an overthrow of the currency controllers at least (and it's not far fetched to see the gulf war as a not subtle message to OPEC that if they tried the big oil squeeze again we might be sending those patriot missiles their way next time).
Now imagine an alternative scenario where the powers that be decided that instead of cranking up interest in a misguided notion that to save the economy we must first destroy it had instead applied the concept that a sovereign currency can always repay it's debts and borrowed heavily putting people to work creating alternative and renewable energy sources and replacing gasoline cars with EV's, technology that was readily available even if primitive. Some short term inflation would remain, but no stagnation.
However the main consequence would be that fat cat oil executives would lose their shirts. And that, truly was and remains a consequence that we're not willing to accept. Worth a read: https://www.amazon.com/Prize-Epic-Quest-Money-Power/dp/1439110123?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_dls
If you have a real interest in energy, the legacy of oil and how we got here, read this book. It is superb. The author is a historian, a real one, and the history is simply incredible. It’s not a like or dislike thing simply the impact of this commodity on our lives for generations.
https://www.amazon.ca/Prize-Epic-Quest-Money-Power/dp/1439110123/
Worked all over the world in oil and gas, everything from land spudding
stations, exploration vehicles, north sea oil rigs and ship yards. As
well as geo caves (before VR)... And well all of it.Was great fun, its a young man's life and some places are horrible, some are great.
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You will often get treated better than most of the grunts, so be prepared
for some resentment (eg I was often the only person after the very
seniors to have a cabin to myself and was usually in 5*+ hotels on lay
over in places like Rio and Dubai.
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Rough assignments can be ship yards or anywhere in Kazakhstan or similar,
personal 24/7 armed security and very little freedom at times... And in
paces like Asia and Brazil... Well most places actually.. Even Aberdeen,
actually, you will get a lot of attention from local prostitutes.Read this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Tell-Mum-Work-Rigs/dp/1857883772/And make sure you save. Also, well you'll learn.. Mind yer business.
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Repost and edited after the sysadmin autobot didn't like Amazon link from google. Way to Automate.
TL;DR: Sure, you can do that. But the more energy you pack in, the more it starts looking like an explosive, with all the problems that entails.
Look up monopropellants. For a light hearted treatement of monoprops in John D. Clark's <strong>Ignition</strong>
Why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. You'll find the answer in this book. I have been reading history books as a hobby for the past 10 years and this one changed my entire worldview.
> Japanese perspective
I can recommend some books on Japanese history if you want but, like most things in the world, you may not be able to appreciate them until its the right time. For example, the movies I HATED as a 17 year old became my favorite movies when I rewatched them again at the age of 27.
> I'll continue to hold my beliefs.
Of course. That is your prerogative.
> I mean what was he thinking
Pretty simple thinking as far as strategy goes. An enemy's enemy is my friend.
> I always thought US was never imperialistic
Reaffirms my point that US propaganda machine is the greatest on this earth. The entire north and south American continents before 1620 were like India; pagan, polytheistic societies. The US quite literally committed a genocide of aboriginals in their westward expansion. Even Hitler was inspired by what White Europeans (who's descendants we call Americans today) did to Natives of what is today USA.
Discovering oil in the Middle East came after oil was an established global business... oil companies were looking for new sources outside of the US and Russia (among other places).
The Prize by Daniel Yergin is a pretty comprehensive history of the business... lots of names, lots of places, lots of details, a lot like the Dune universe. https://www.amazon.com/Prize-Epic-Quest-Money-Power/dp/1439110123
It was reprinted recently. https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ignition&qid=1635011105&s=books&sr=1-1
(not a big fan of Amazon, but showing that it is not hard to find)
we are not seeing anything like the oil shocks in the 70s.
https://www.amazon.com/Prize-Epic-Quest-Money-Power/dp/1439110123
read that book if you really want the full history of oil, but the price of oil in the 70s more then quadrupled. the only asset that really rose anywhere near the level of oil in the 70s is lumber, and its already come well off its peak. things are more expensive, and some asset prices have risen, but people really need to understand the difference between a rapid 20% rise in value (housing) and a 4x rise. theyre not the same.
If you haven't read "Ignition!", and enjoy explosions/rocketry, you really should give it a go.
The linked article says it is out-of-print, but I think that article may just be dated. A really fun read.
>Things I Won't Work With
No need to hoist the Jolly Roger to find a copy of Ignition!, Rutgers has been reprinting it for a few years now and it's available on Amazon (and, presumably, from other booksellers; I got it from Amazon last year):https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-History-Liquid-Propellants-ebook/dp/B076838QS2
I've made a fair amount of diborane. It's awful stuff. First you have to pump down your Stock vacuum line to 10^-4 atm (I think) using a mechanical pump and a mercury diffusion pump. Then you have keep checking there or no small leaks. And there was always slow leaks. And diborane smells horrible.
I made B2H6 from lithium aluminum hydride and boron trifluoride (dissolved in ether). It took about a day to make and purify ~0.25 mol, and by the end of the day, I was pretty wasted.
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From the diborane, I made tetraborane, and then a ethylene adduct of tetraborane.
After one spectacular detonation, I discovered what I believe is the most stupid way to make polyethylene.
Fires, bangs and broken glass - not fun
btw the 3 centered bond was called a "banana" bond.
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There is a wonderful book on the development of liquid rocket fuels. Years ago a copy was precious, but now you can get Ignition! on Amazon
There is a chapter on "The Billion Buck Boron Booboo".
From a recommendation in a Derek Lowe Things I Won't Work With post (read the whole section, there are many more explodey entries), it seems there are whole specialities that started off like that.
Haha I would bore you or you wouldn't believe me... let alone my military stuff. But if you want a good read (and you will love this) check out tis book : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Tell-Mum-Work-Rigs/dp/1857883772
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Edit: Sorry on my mind with bit coin - but I do have a great story about gas generators, Ak47's and air shipped GPU containers in Kazasktan from 10 years ago... but. Read that book for giggles,
I found "Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs: (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse)" a lighthearted, funny romp of anecdotes about working in the oil industry. It's hardly literature, but is very enjoyable. There's also a sequel called "this is not a drill"
Get this:
https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835
I think there may be a free pdf copy floating around too. At least there was for a while when it was out of print.
Actually, the history of rockets is ridiculously amazing. I recommend this book as a journey through it:
https://www.amazon.com/Ignition-Informal-Propellants-University-Classics/dp/0813595835
Also, you have to plan these conversations out in your head and it takes a while before you build up enough steam to get it out. Sometimes the timing is off.
I empathize with husband.