MATERIALS EQUIPMENT
potassium chlorate 12 oz.glass bottle
(2 teaspoons)
sugar (2 teaspoons) cap for bottle, w/plastic inside
conc. sulfuric acid (4 oz.) cooking pan with raised edges
gasoline (8 oz.) paper towels
glass or plastic cup and spoon
Bottled gas, such as butane for refilling lighters, propane for propane stoves or for bunsen burners, can be used to produce a powerful explosion. To make such a device, all that a simple-minded anarchist would have to do would be to take his container of bottled gas and place it above a can of Sterno or other gelatinized fuel, light the fuel and run. Depending on the fuel used, and on the thickness of the fuel container, the liquid gas will boil and expand to the point of bursting the container in about five minutes.
In theory, the gas would immediately be ignited by the burning gelatinized fuel, producing a large fireball and explosion. Unfortunately, the bursting of the bottled gas container often puts out the fuel, thus preventing the expanding gas from igniting. By using a metal bucket half filled with gasoline, however, the chances of ignition are better, since the gasoline is less likely to be extinguished. Placing the canister of bottled gas on a bed of burning charcoal soaked in gasoline would probably be the most effective way of securing ignition of the expanding gas, since although the bursting of the gas container may blow out the flame of the gasoline, the burning charcoal should immediately re-ignite it. Nitrous oxide, hydrogen, propane, acetylene, or any other flammable gas will do nicely.
During the recent gulf war, fuel/air bombs were touted as being second only to nuclear weapons in their devastating effects. These are basically similar to the above devices, except that an explosive charge is used to rupture the fuel container and disperse it over a wide area. a second charge is used to detonate the fuel. The reaction is said to produce a massive shockwave and to burn all the oxygen in a large area, causing suffocation.
Another benefit of a fuel-air explosive is that the gas will seep into fortified bunkers and other partially-sealed spaces, so a large bomb placed in a building would result in the destruction of the majority of surrounding rooms, rendering it structurally unsound. Exodus '94