Chinese scientists have used a new industrial process to make a bomb that has a huge destructive power – without being a weapon of nuclear fusion.
China has developed a hydrogen bomb with an unprecedented thermal power, capable of generating a fireball of more than 1,000 horror Celsius for more than two seconds, a duration fifteenth greater than an equivalent detonation of TNT.
To bomb Not nuclearso it is not subject to any international nuclear weapon control treaty, note o.
According to the study, conducted by researchers from China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and published in Journal of Projectiles, Rockets, Missiles and Guidancethe pump is able to trigger Chain chemical reactions com devastating thermal effects with only 2 kg of the explosive used, the magnesium hydre (MgH₂).
How it works
O magnesium It is a powder compound that stores solid state hydrogen with a density higher than the pressurized tanks. When activated with conventional explosives, it suffers a rapid thermal decompositionreleasing hydrogen gas that, When mixed with the air, it ignites in a self-sustained combustion.
“Ignition requires a minimum of energy, has a great radius of explosion and generates quick and widespread flames, ”explains Wang Xuefengresearcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and main author of the study.
The study specifies that the explosion wave of experience has reached a maximum overpressure of 428.43 kilopascal at a distance of two meters – 40% of TNT’s strength – but with a much larger thermal range.
A Fireball, capable of melting aluminum alloysmaintained its intensity thanks to a synergistic cycle: the shock waves fracture hydride in microscopic particles, releasing more hydrogen, whose combustion generates heat that accelerates decomposition of the remaining material. This mechanism allows “uniform destruction in large areas,” says the team of investigators.
According to the production, the production of the amount of magnesium hydro required to manufacture industrial scale pumps was previously limited to laboratories and some grams.
But the researchers were able to develop a simple synthesis system that, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, radically reduces costs and makes manufacturing possible in large quantities.
In addition, the method Reduces the possibility of accidentthe main problem in the production of a material that can explode with simple air exposure.
Based on this manufacturing method, China last year opened a magnesium hydride factory in Shaanxi, in the northwest of the country, with a surprising capacity annual 150 tons.
In addition to military applications, Beijing will use the material for Fuel in submarines and long -range dronesdue to its high hydrogen density.
