HFQ Offical Snippet #18

fallsfromtrees wrote:

Peter2 wrote:Hang on a minute . . .

Have I got my wires crossed, or do we have two "Lieutenant Bryansyn"s – one on each side?

We have already been down this road - since the piece you quote from snippet 18 was from mini snippet 2, and the LT who should have been making the report is named Hahrlys. My current thinking is typo to be corrected during proofing.

Why can't people have the same last name happens all the time in the real world.

Mr Weber, as everybody here said, best wishes for Sharon and I hope she'll get better very soon.
And, of course, thanks for the snipped. It was long, it was informative, and... it was cut just before we got to the meat of it.
Still, no complaints from me - family first.

Randomiser wrote:Just as well really as the two Lt Bryansyn's are brothers; the RDA one being a Temple Loyalist who left Charis some years ago. It's that kind of war

Perhaps not, but in any other book it could be a set-up for a joke later on. Uhm... "Lt Bryansyn, fetch lt Bryansyn."? I'm not sure, though, if this book isn't above this kid of humor.
Anyway, I guess their reaction to finding out about each other would be interesting.

PeterZ wrote:I believe that the description is from an omniscient 3rd person POV, not Hanth's own thoughts. So this is the author cluing in the informed reader we are dealing with TNT and not dynamite. Hanth wouldn't have a clue what the explosive's detonation velocity is.

fleadermouse wrote:I think we are most likely looking at TNT here not dynamite. The detonation velocity is wrong for dynamite. Standard dynamite is 40% nitro and it detonates at about 15-16,000 fps. Extra dynamite is 60% nitro and detonates at about 19,000 fps. TNT detonates at 22,600fps which fits very nicely with the text.

Secondly, TNT makes a good shell bursting charge dynamite does not.

finally TNT can be formed into shapes like the text indicated. dynamite is nitroglycerin soaked clay (DE) that is packed into cardboard tubes.

Also RDX The active component in C4 detonates at about 29,000 fps which probably disqualifies it from consideration.

Going back to college chemistry, it was a lot more complicated to nitrate toluene than glycerine, AND they would only let us get to the "di-nitro" stage whereas Nitro-glycerine could be prepared "On-the-bench" if kept sufficiently chilled.

Does Charis/Safehold have the technology and the requisite purity of feedstock to go the "tri-nitration" of toluene?

What they said.

HTM

Mendicant wrote:

FriarBob wrote:
Hope she (and you) get all back to normal really soon.

I hope Sharon recovers fully and quickly.

chrisd wrote:Going back to college chemistry, it was a lot more complicated to nitrate toluene than glycerine, AND they would only let us get to the "di-nitro" stage whereas Nitro-glycerine could be prepared "On-the-bench" if kept sufficiently chilled.

Does Charis/Safehold have the technology and the requisite purity of feedstock to go the "tri-nitration" of toluene?

My first thought was that it was more likely http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picric_acid than TNT; that was the earlier shell-filler explosive. (With a detonation velocity of about 24,000 fps, which is over 23,000...) Looking it up the real difference in synthesis -- for picric acid, done on the lab bench in the 1740s by alchemists! -- is the feedstock, and getting toluene isn't difficult once you've got an oil industry doing fractional distillation, something Charis has been set up to be developing.

Picric acid has more boom than TNT, but it's corrosive and forms unstable metal salts when used as a shell filler. Dynamite has all sorts of problems with stability, particularly when it gets hot; tropical Old Charis and Emerald and Tarot probably don't want to deal with sweaty dynamite.

Since Dr. Lywys knows all this, I think it probably is TNT.

Don't ask Haligonians (residents of Halifax, NS) what they think of picric acid. It could be dangerous to your health.

Graydon wrote:

chrisd wrote:Going back to college chemistry, it was a lot more complicated to nitrate toluene than glycerine, AND they would only let us get to the "di-nitro" stage whereas Nitro-glycerine could be prepared "On-the-bench" if kept sufficiently chilled.

Does Charis/Safehold have the technology and the requisite purity of feedstock to go the "tri-nitration" of toluene?

My first thought was that it was more likely http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picric_acid than TNT; that was the earlier shell-filler explosive. (With a detonation velocity of about 24,000 fps, which is over 23,000...) Looking it up the real difference in synthesis -- for picric acid, done on the lab bench in the 1740s by alchemists! -- is the feedstock, and getting toluene isn't difficult once you've got an oil industry doing fractional distillation, something Charis has been set up to be developing.

Picric acid has more boom than TNT, but it's corrosive and forms unstable metal salts when used as a shell filler. Dynamite has all sorts of problems with stability, particularly when it gets hot; tropical Old Charis and Emerald and Tarot probably don't want to deal with sweaty dynamite.

Since Dr. Lywys knows all this, I think it probably is TNT.

Graydon wrote:

chrisd wrote:Going back to college chemistry, it was a lot more complicated to nitrate toluene than glycerine, AND they would only let us get to the "di-nitro" stage whereas Nitro-glycerine could be prepared "On-the-bench" if kept sufficiently chilled.

Does Charis/Safehold have the technology and the requisite purity of feedstock to go the "tri-nitration" of toluene?

My first thought was that it was more likely http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picric_acid than TNT; that was the earlier shell-filler explosive. (With a detonation velocity of about 24,000 fps, which is over 23,000...) Looking it up the real difference in synthesis -- for picric acid, done on the lab bench in the 1740s by alchemists! -- is the feedstock, and getting toluene isn't difficult once you've got an oil industry doing fractional distillation, something Charis has been set up to be developing.

Picric acid has more boom than TNT, but it's corrosive and forms unstable metal salts when used as a shell filler. Dynamite has all sorts of problems with stability, particularly when it gets hot; tropical Old Charis and Emerald and Tarot probably don't want to deal with sweaty dynamite.

Since Dr. Lywys knows all this, I think it probably is TNT.

The detonation velocity quoted is compatible with nitrocellulose which derive from guncotton, which we know Dr Lywys discovered by accident (provoked or not by Merlin ?). I would not search further.

More, Picric acid is a seriously hazardous compound to handle.

runsforcelery wrote:Guys ---

I'm very sorry for how late this one is coming in. Sharon has been really, really sick for the last couple of weeks with a respiratory problem that just isn't going away, and while she's been under the weather, I've had to pick up and carry a lot of other balls. There just haven't been enough hours in a day to keep up with everything, I'm afraid. Anyway, this one's a bit longer as a sort of consolation prize.
_________________________________________

Echoing what many have already said, I'm hoping Sharon recovers quickly and will be sending prayers to that effect. Thanks for taking the time to share the snippets with us!

Looked up TNT in Wiki- so this may or may not be accurate-

Anyway, the stuff needs another explosive to set it off. It melts before going off so it can be poured into containers-(shells). Imagine a Temple Loyalist trying to figure out how this stuff can be an explosive.
Then if one of the pet tech wizards get it and figures out how to set it off, it's going to be another one of those-

"OK, I know how to get it to explode and I have no idea how to make it."

Nasty fellow, our MWW.

fleadermouse wrote:
Secondly, TNT makes a good shell bursting charge dynamite does not.

I'm curious as to why that is?