Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
Picric acid would be their go-to military explosive for the first generation or two, I expect. What would they need to have sorted out to be able to change over to the relatively safer and more convenient TNT?
|
Toluene is found in crude oil, but can also be made from coal. Production is otherwise similar to nitroglycerine.
The modern explosive of choice for large-scale mining and demolitions is ammonium nitrate-fuel oil - same stuff used in cruder form by terrorists for car bombs. It's available today in vast quantities because it's the nitrogenous fertilizer of choice. Without large-scale use of this for farming, cheap explosives in large scale probably means black powder, unless a dynamite plant is set up - which it might be if double-base propellants are used for guns.
Quote:
|
And if both were available, what would be the relative costs, assuming that they were generally on the cusp of TL5/TL6 in terms of infrastructure and economic strength, that their technology with military applications would tend to be more advanced, and they obviously still had the theoretical knowledge of early TL7?
|
TNT seems harder to make, but is more stable and less interested in turning into exotic metal salts when in contact with metals. It's also harder to detonate, so it requires more complicated fusing. This is one reason TNT wasn't used much for civilian purposes - dynamite is reasonably safe, and much easier to use.