Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Breaking rock without explosives

Thanks for replys.
Going to the patents there are lots of formula.
Searching for rock breaking + cao takes up for example:

CONSTITUTION: This static breaking material is an expanding substance formed by heat-treating a mixture of a CaO raw material and a CaF2 raw material, comprises a mineral composed of CaO and CaF2 as effective ingredients and has 15-20 pts.wt. of CaF2 based on 100 pts.wt. total amount of CaO and CaF2. Or this static breaking material comprises the expanding substance and a hydraulic substance and/or a latent hydraulic substance, a setting modifier and a water reducing agent. By using the static breaking material high-performance breaking ability and effects such as breaking a rock or concrete even at a low temperature in about half a day are obtained.

It CaF cheap and non toxic? I would imagine not.

Another one:

PURPOSE: To provide the title breaking agent capable of breaking a bulky material in a short time at high breaking efficiency safely by using a specific quicklime in the title breaking agent contg. a given amt. of quicklime.
CONSTITUTION: In the title breaking agent contg. at least 50wt.% quicklime, use is made of CO2-treated quicklime prepd. by bringing a starting quicklime powder into contact with CO2.

Searching rock breaking + quicklime gives (amongst others)
Abstract:
PURPOSE: To provide the subject breaking agent capable of breaking rock or concrete in a short time without causing a stream-generating phenomenon by compression-solidifying the powder of a hydratively swellable material consisting mainly of burnt lime, crushing the solid product and subsequently packaging the crushed product with a water-permeable material in a bar-like shape.




CONSTITUTION: The powder of a hydratively swellable material consisting mainly of burnt lime, preferably consisting of 10-20wt.% of alumina cement, 2-6wt.% of Ca(OH)2 and the remaining amount of CaO, is once compression- solidified, crushed and subsequently packaged with a water-permeable material such as nylon or PP nonwoven fabric in a bar-like shape to provide the objective breaking agent.


and more:

CONSTITUTION: The breaking agent for brittle substance (e.g. rock or concrete) is prepared by adding 0.1W5pts.wt. fluidizing agent (e.g. formalin condensate of naphthalenesulfonic acid) and 0.05W5pts.wt. carbonate (g. sodium carbonate) to 100pts.wt. quick lime. For improved performance, about 0.1W5pts.wt. water is added for partial slaking of the lime. For application, 20W50pts.wt. water is added to 100pts.wt. breaking agent to prepare an aqueous slurry, which is poured into a hole made in a brittle substance to cause breaking of the substance by expansive force of the slurry.


Searching non explosive rock breaking takes up (amongst others)
A rock and concrete breaking (fracturing-demolishing-splitting) system comprising: a chemical mixture comprising potassium chlorate with ratio of 55-70% by weight of mixture; ammonium oxalate with ratio of 15-30% by weight of mixture; sugar or lactose or starch or any combination of them with ratio of 15-20% by weight of mixture; boron oxide (boroxide) (B2O3) with ratio of 5-10% by weight of mixture; borax decahydrate (Na2B4O7.10H2O) with ratio of 3-5% by weight of mixture; an activation component placed inside and/or in contact directly or indirectly with the chemical mixture, wherein the activation component is configured to activate the chemical mixture to burn and expand; and an activation system configured to activate the activation component wherein when the activation system activates the activation component, the activation component activates the chemical mixture that causes chemical mixture to burn and expand.

searching silent not explosive rock breaking takes up (amongst others)

Abstract:
A high speed silent cracking agent of the liquid-soaked type consists of a cartridge of solid cracking agent and a solution of liquid inhibitor catalyst. The cartridge of solid cracking agent contains about 50 to about 90 percent by weight of quicklime, about 1 to about 4 percent by weight of borax, about 8 to about 30 percent by weight of vermiculite, 0 to 2 percent by weight of aluminum powder, and 0 to about 14 percent by weight of sulphur based on the total weight of said solid cracking agent. The solution of liquid inhibitor catalyst contains about 0.05 to about 0.40 percent by weight of caustic soda, about 0.01 to about 0.50 percent by weight of quartz, about 0.04 to about 0.30 percent by weight of ammoniation agent and about 99.8 to about 98.8 percent by weight of water, or contains about 0.40 to about 1.80 percent by weight sodium silicate, about 0.05 to about 0.40 percent by weight of ammoniation agent and about 99.55 to about 97.8 percent by weight of water based on the total weight of said solution. The expansion pressure of the silent cracking agent is about 70 to about 130 MPa and the cracking time is about 3 to 60 minutes. It can be widely used in the fields of rock quarrying and processing, highway constructing, concrete foundation demolishing, smooth blasting in tunnels and shafts, and coal mining.


At this stage I must appologise for all the posting.
I GOT CARRIED AWAY!

Yob




This system is, essentially, a gas generator. Function is NO DIFFERENT in any meaningfull way from good old fashioned blasting powder, it is pyrotechnically initiated and burns a fuel with an oxidizer, although they did cleverly separate the two for transport and storage and load into the bore hole separately.

Hell yes, it will go "BANG!".

It is possibly safer to transport and store than black powder. By regulatory standards, it could be less onerous to transport and use than a ready to ignite gas generator (what we in the trade also call "a deflagrating explosive", at least where the regulators can't hear us).

A company in the Midwest of USA was making gas generator type rock fracturing cartridges on a contract to some other company a few years back. Not an EXPLOSIVE, oh no! MUCH safer, it wasn't that dangerous old fashioned black powder everyone knows about. The wonderful new product only made safe, natural, Earth mother Gaia approved water vapor and innocuous Nitrogen gas, same as 80% of the air you breathe-

Then they managed to accidentally initiate however much of the stuff and finished cartridges were laying about in their production building. Destroyed the building with what looked suspiciously similar to what is technically known as a "fire". Two workers dead, one of the family very seriously burned. I know some of the people involved, the survivor will have a rather reduced quality of life for the rest of his days. 50%+ 2nd and 3rd degree burns will do that, regardless of the chemicals inflicting them.

If it makes enough hot gas to split a rock in a fraction of a second, damn the difference anyway. It is functionally an explosive, and it will kill you for disrespecting it just as quick as any other type of powder.