Explosive Napalm

[Yellow]

The volatile mixture of potassium chlorate ( KCLO-3 ) and red phosphor ( P ) is probably the simplest high-explosive to make ( see also: "The Sandwich-Mine" ) - althrough its detonation velocity is not very high.

But it can be used in many ways. One is to make explosive napalm. The two chemicals ( 80 % KCLO-3 and 20% P ) are simply mixed into napalm in a mixture of 80 % napalm and 20% explosive. In this mixture the KNO-3/P mixture is so diluted that it will not detonate imediately. But as the napalm burns, the explosive will get more and more concentrated, and at last detonate.

In the mixture mentioned abowe, it will typicaly detonate in 2 - 3 minutes.

The use of this exploding napalm in molotow cocktails is obvious.
Riot police are equiped with fireextinguiser, but they will normally not use them against a firebomb that lands in the middle of the street and does not threaten to set buildings at fire. They will typicaly just walk around the fire. With the right timing the napalm will detonate, just as they are passing by.

I have testet this explosive napalm many times. It only failed once, where there was short huge orange flame instead of a detonation.

In theory any primary explosive should behawe in the same way.

For experimentaition I would advise to start with very small amounts - and ignite the napalm/explosive mixture from a safe distance.

Picric acid ( normaly a cap sensitive HE ) should be espcially interesting, as it will detonate if exposed to 250 degrees Celsius for 5 seconds - and its detonation rate is much higher than the KCLO-3/P mixture.
The use of incendiaries to detonate picric acid has been used in many types of bombs.

[nuclearattack]

I think you can explode napalm in two other ways:

1. Make a main charge with an HE of your choice and add to it some alluminium or magnesium powder in a 50/50 ratio. The main charge should be placed in a tank filled with napalm. You will need a detonator to ignite the main charge. This is the same system used to ignite FAE.

2. Put in the molotov a small cap filled with NG. As the molotov crashes in the ground the fire will ignite the NG cap.

I had never tried to explode napalm so i don't know if it can work. You have to make some tests but it can become interesting.

[nbk2000]

*yawn*

Old news, yellow-boy, as I put this very subject in my PDF back in '99.

[Setharier]

Is there actually any everyday or at least from-hardwarestore-stuff that one could use for synthetizing phosphorus? It's obvious that it isn't sold around like gasoline, but still many applications include it: signs, reflectors, fertilizers, matches, cleaning agents, etc. But how can one gain a nice pile of phosphorus in his flask and turn it into white form that burns or explodes?

What I originally thought was making gasoline+polystyrene napalm(I've got around 4 gallons of pure mixture and 1-2 liters of shitty one now - choose your styrofoam carefully, the ones from the beach are in need of very deep cleansing) unextinguishable, or at least to make it burn ~10 times more confidently. In this case, could one add some oxidizing agent into it? AN? KNO3? Al? Anything that is available in big bags and sold everywhere??

[fluoroantimonic]

Yes it can be done, and it has been discussed many many times. The amount of effort required is probably far more than you are wiling to commit.

Al isn't quite an oxidizer, and I doubt it would react much at all under those conditions... unless maybe it was the super fine atomized variety, which is definitely not OTC.

I would imagine fine powdered nitrate salts would be useful, not for detonating, but for enhancing the combustion. There are many other oxidizers out there that should work too.

There may be some high temperature stable explosives that are soluble in petroleum that could be used to attempt to get a detonation. Any explosive not stable at fairly high temps would probably simply decompose before it becomes concentrated enough to detonate.

[megalomania]

One of the most appropriate methods for DIY phosphorus would be by microwave, which I have talked about before. There are many threads about DIY phosphorus production on The Forum, you have but to search for them.

[Yafmot]

It seems to me that if you wanted to lower the temperature at which a compound with KClO3/O4 would detonate, a small percentage of Ammonium or potassium Dichromate would probably do the trick. It may even allow the use of NH4ClO4, since it quickens up rocket propellants pretty well. At the very least, it could help accelerate the Oxidative effect. Seems worth a try.

[Setharier]

We some time ago attempted mixing aluminium putty from decades-old shelf-standed al-paint. The oil thinner and al powder were separated into sticky al putty and clear liquid in the can. The mixture ratio was anyway quite low, only some 5% max. was of Al putty. Anyway even this amount had significant effect on burning. Earlier we used only common polystyrene-gasoline mixture which burnt stable. The Al-mixture burnt at much higher temperature and the object, some kind of plastic shower system from construction junk pile we destroyed on both times burnt down notable faster and there were even clearly glowing dots where some al had bunched. If possible, it is bonus if one can add al powder to the mixture. Probably 10-20% mixture would be the best.

If I have understood correctly the ETN is primary-secondary initiater and is actually possible to detonate even by throwing it into fire. This way one could make a mixture of, example, 70:15:15 of napalm:KNO3:ETN. The napalm burns at increased intensity by KNO3 nitration and may even splash around and eventually the ETN should crack or in best case blow around the whole mixture.

Napalm explosive device in it's actual meaning might be possible to do by inserting 250-500g charge of PETN/ETN charge in the very middle of an 2l bottle and filling it with a mixture of 85:15 napalm:KNO3.

With increased burning capabilities, the Greek Fire is worth of inspecting. I have no much time so I copy-paste the lore from wikipedia:


* petroleum, niter, sulfur;[2]
* naphtha, quicklime, sulfur;[1]
* phosphorus and saltpeter.[8]



The preparation instructions for Greek Fire were top secret, and even nowadays there is no actual knowledge of it's ingredients. Anyway the composition can be concluded on the properties of the Greek Fire and substances available on that time.

Because the substance lit in contact with water, it had potassium oxide.
The stickiness was achieved with colophon resin, pitch and naphta.
Smoke and poisonous fumes were caused by sulphur and pitch.
The actual burning agent was probably petroleum.
Because the composition burned even submerged there was an oxidizer, probably potassium nitrate. This also made the composition splash around.

For modern Greek Fire, we need:

-Pyrophoric and/or hydrophoric substance
-Substance that is really sticky and likely burns
-Substance that releases very poisonous fumes when burnt
-Substance that is only for burning
-Powerful but controllable oxidizer

So something like napalm, potassium cyanide, white phosphorus and KNO3 and/or AN would do it. If not vacuum sealed before use, it will cause obvious ignition danger in any environment.

[Yafmot]

Uh, suppose we just skip the KCN, especially on a day when the wind is shifting a lot. There are many better ways to disperse toxic agents, and if you have to occupy the area you've attacked, you'd just about have to use NBC gear, since you wouldn't know for sure how much of that stuff would get deposited on nearby surfaces.

Maybe a toxin with a predictable half-life, so you'd have some idea about the risks. Also, poisoning people is considered a not nice thing to do in modern times. Perhaps a delivery system that was a little more selective, a little less ham-fisted.

Freshly formed Zinc Oxide can cause Metal Fume Fever, which is very debilitating and can even kill. However, after it's had a chance to disperse and cool off a little, it's much less pernicious. Something like this would allow you to incapacitate large numbers of bad guys without the adverse area denial associated with a persistant agent. Maybe load the incendiary compound with Zinc Peroxide and straight Zinc. When they combined, they would form ZnO, and it would be hot & dense. While they're gagging, choking and bringing up chunks of lung & trachea, and shivering like hell from their clogged kidneys, you could just sit & wait for the ZnO to cool and disperse before going in to either capture them of finish them off. They wouldn't be in good enough shape to put up much of a fight.

So, whaddaya' think?

[Setharier]

Most likely Zinc Oxide is better in every way. The very little I know about toxins is just about the cliché nerve gases from every B-movie, KCN and HF maybe. The whole idea using "poison-napalm" came from Greek Fire and definitely is a minor thing when speaking about explosive incendiary device :).