CARBO-DYNAMITE was an explosive patented by W. D. Borland. It differed from ordinary dynamite in that the nitroglycerine was absorbed in cork charcoal instead of kieselguhr. One part of the charcoal sufficed to absorb nine parts of nitroglycerine.
[CARBONITE] (or Karbonit) was one of the earliest and one of the most successful coal-mine explosives. It was first made by Bichel and Schmidt at Schlebusch in Germany in 1885, and after some modifications gave satisfactory results at the Neunkirchen testing station in 1887. It contains about 26 per cent. of nitroglycerine, 33 per cent. of a nitrate, and 40 per cent. of wood meal or starch flour, and small quantities of other substances. Nobel Carbonite passed the Woolwich Test and had the composition—
| Nitroglycerine | 26 |
| Barium nitrate | 4 |
| Potassium nitrate | 29 |
| Wood meal | 40·5 |
| “Sulphuretted benzol” | 0·25 |
| Sodium and calcium carbonates | 0·25 |
The Carbonite made at the works of the Carbonite Syndicate at Schlebusch, and imported into Great Britain, was practically the same as this, but they also made another explosive which passed the Woolwich Test, and contained 35 per cent. of nitroglycerine gelatinised with nitrocotton, and smaller proportions of nitrates and wood meal than are given above: this was called Extra-Carbonite. They have also made explosives to numerous modifications of this formula for use on the Continent. The essential feature of all of them is that they contain so much of the combustible constituents, such as wood meal, that most of the carbon appears in the products of explosion as carbon monoxide, and the temperature of the gases is consequently low.
Nobels at Ardeer also made a low freezing explosive in which part of the nitroglycerine was replaced by a nitro-compound. This was called Arctic Carbonite—
| Nitroglycerine | 15·5 |
| Nitro-hydrocarbon | 10·5 |
| Potassium nitrate | 42 |
| Wood meal | 31·7 |
| Calcium carbonate | 0·3 |
Various manufacturers have made explosives of the type of Carbonite and placed them on the market under different names, such as [Tutol], [Kolax], [Kohlen-Carbonite], [Minite] and Colinite. These, however, do not pass the Rotherham Test for Permitted Explosives, unless ammonium oxalate or other cooling agent be added, as in the case of [Cambrite], [Super-Kolax] and [Britonite No. 2].
On the Continent, explosives similar to Arctic Carbonite have been produced under the names [Antigel de Sûreté] and [Ingélite].
There are several Carbonites on the American Permissible List. Of these Nos. 1 to 4 are in order of diminishing violence: Nos. 5 and 6 are low freezing varieties. There are also a number of other explosives of the Carbonite type on the List.
Ammonkarbonit is a German coal-mine explosive, containing about 80 per cent. of ammonium nitrate and 4 per cent. of blasting gelatine, together with 5 or 10 per cent. of potassium nitrate, and a combustible such as flour, starch or coal dust. Sodium or potassium chloride may be added as a cooling agent. It has been used for blasting clay.