Thickeners Napalm

Napalm (Thickened Fuel). An acronym for NAphthenic acid and PALMetate, the former being a petroleum product, while the latter is extracted from palm oils. Napalm was developed by Dr Louis F. Fieser of Harvard University... 

Napalm also can be mixed by a cold method, although it may take hours to thicken. This should... 

Ml Thickener A standard thickener known as Napalm. It is a mixed aluminum soap in which ca 50% of the org acids are derived from coconut oil, 25% from naphthenic acids 25% from oleic acid. When stirred into gasoline at a temp range from 16 to 29°C, Ml swells until the entire vol of gasoline becomes a more or less homogeneous gel [Ref TM3-215/AFM 355-7(Dec I963),p4ll... 

NP Abbr for Napalm. Aluminum soap in powder form, used to gelatinize oil or gasoline for use in Napalm bombs or flame throwers. See also Ml, M2 Sc M4 thickeners... 

L. F. Fieser et al, 40, 5567 (1946) and Ind EngChem, 38, 768-73 (1946). Napalm (Detailed description of preparation and properties). Some other thickened fuels are described... 

During WWII, the British used a thickened fuel called Fras which was prepared by digestion of aluminum stearate with gasoline at 50—55°(120—130°F), but this material was not as good as Napalm and more difficult to prepare (Ref 7)... 

Aluminum soap manufactured from vegetable oils was a commercial thickening agent for gasoline and was used as a Napalm fill. Though Napalm possesses excellent flaming ability and proved best at that time, it, however, suffers from some disadvantages such as ... 

The consistency of Napalm gel is variable and depends on many factors. However, 2-4% of Napalm gives a definitely stringy gel whereas 10-12% gives a very elastic gel which is almost solid. Napalm, while satisfactory as a thickener, is hygroscopic and also susceptible to oxidation by atmospheric oxygen resulting in a thickened gasoline with poor characteristics. In the presence of moisture, the soap may hydrolyze as shown in Equation 5.24 ... 

Napalm a thickened gasoline used as an incendiary medium that adheres to the surface it strikes. 

At the time of the outbreak of the Second World War the aid of Professor Louis Fieser of Harvard University, a distinguished organic chemist, was enlisted. The Japanese invasion of the East Indies had cut off supplies of rubber which was crucial to the thickener for napalm. The research programme that followed, conducted at Harvard University, saw the first successful napalm detonations on the games field behind the football stadium - an excellent example of applied weapons research in the universities.55 The new napalm gel proved far superior to the original rubber-based gel, and napalm was used extensively by the United States in incendiary raids on Japan in the Second World War.56 Napalm was also used in Korea where it was called the United States best all round weapon 57 and, of course, it was used extensively in Vietnam. SSg-E6 Tom M. Jackson (Vietnam, 12 September 1970 to 12 September 1971) described watching napalm set off from only 50 yards away ... 

Heavy-metal soaps (loosely called metallic soaps) are those formed by metals heavier than sodium (aluminum, calcium, cobalt, lead, and zinc). These soaps are not water soluble specific types are used in lubricating greases, gel thickeners, and in paints as driers and flatting agents. Napalm is an aluminum soap. See saponification detergent. 

If the mixture has not thickened enough after about 15 minutes of stirring, remove the upper pot and put it several feet from the heat source. Again bring the water in the lower pot to a boil. Shut off heat source, place upper pot in lower pot at a location several feet from the heat source and repeat stirring until the napalm reaches the reoom-mended conristency. 

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