AIR FORCE TO STUDY RESULTS OF FUEL BURN.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer Air Force officials will analyze the results from this weekend's burning of about 125 pounds of highly volatile rocket fuel before scheduling the next burn, an official said Monday. Trucked to a test area about three miles east of Phillips Laboratory's main complex, the two small cylinders were blown open by explosive charges detonated by remote control, causing the fuel to ignite, said Phillips spokesman Ranney Adams. "It burns very vigorously," Adams said. "You get a white cloud White Cloud: see Waubeshiek. white cloud indicates high achievement. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 350] See : Success - it kind of looks like steam. It consists of boric bo·ric also bo·rac·ic adj. Of, relating to, derived from, or containing boron. boric Adjective of or containing boron Adj. 1. oxide, boric acid boric acid, any one of the three chemical compounds, orthoboric (or boracic) acid, metaboric acid, and tetraboric (or pyroboric) acid; the term often refers simply to orthoboric acid. The acids may be thought of as hydrates of boric oxide, B2O3. and water vapor. It disperses rather readily." Initial environmental monitoring indicated that the fuel - called pentaborane - burned completely, but extensive analysis will be done before the next six cylinders of fuel are destroyed, he said. The Air Force is planning to dispose of To determine the fate of; to exercise the power of control over; to fix the condition, application, employment, etc. of; to direct or assign for a use. See also: Dispose 400 500-pound canisters of the rocket fuel, at a cost estimated in December at $2 million. Toxic materials experts called the material - stored at the laboratory for more than 30 years - very dangerous, since it ignites spontaneously if exposed to air over 78 degrees Fahrenheit. When ignited, the chemical burns at 4,300 degrees - nearly twice the temperature needed to melt ordinary steel. The Air Force decided to destroy the fuel after inspections in 1994 and 1995 found 10 canisters in a weakened condition. An added 100 cylinders had walls thinner than required for transportation on public highways. Air Force officials said pentaborane is highly toxic highly toxic Occupational medicine adjective Referring to a chemical that 1. Has a median lethal dose–LD50 of ≤ 50 mg/kg when administered orally to 200-300 g albino rats 2. , but when burned produces boric acid and boric oxide, which they called "relatively benign." The two cylinders destroyed Saturday were trucked one at a time from a Phillips Laboratory storage area on a low-slung trailer driven at slow speed, escorted by pickup trucks in front and back, Adams said. The drivers wore protective clothing and breathing apparatus. Pentaborane first was produced commercially in the 1950s as a potential advanced aircraft fuel. Later, its theoretical performance as a high energy liquid rocket A liquid rocket is a rocket with an engine that uses propellants in liquid form. Liquids are desirable because their reasonably high density allows the volume and hence the mass of the tankage to be relatively low, resulting in a high mass ratio. fuel led to research at Edwards' Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, the predecessor to Phillips. But the fuel never lived up to its potential. Tests stopped in the mid-1960s, and the unused propellent pro·pel·lant also pro·pel·lent n. 1. Something, such as an explosive charge or a rocket fuel, that propels or provides thrust. 2. was placed in storage. |
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