GB Patent: GB-186,701,345
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| Improvements in explosive compounds and in the means of igniting the same
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Patentee:
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| Alfred Nobel (exact or similar names) - Paris, France |
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Patent Dates:
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| Granted: |
May 07, 1867 |
Espacenet patent
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Jeff Joslin
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Description: |
| The invention is a mixture of nitrogylcerine and a porous powdered substance such as charcoal or diatomaceous earth. By itself, nitroglycerin is highly explosive and volatile: it can explode when dropped or bumped. But by mixing it with a porous substance, the nitroglycerin fills those pores and the material between the pores helps prevent the chain reaction that leads to an explosion. Only with a more extreme shock, such as administered by a gunpowder blasting cap, will the nitroglycerin mixture explode, and Nobel's invention was a major advance in making nitroglycerin safe to use, whether for mining or munitions. The inventor named this mixture "dynamite". Dynamite is still in use although trinitrotoluene, or TNT, would be invented a couple of decades later and was much more stable. |
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