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Gelignite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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It has been suggested that Blasting gelatine be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Gelignite, also known as Blasting gelatin, is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or gun cotton) dissolved in nitroglycerine and mixed with wood pulp and sodium or potassium nitrate. Its composition makes it easily moldable, and safe to handle without protection, as long as it is not near anything capable of detonating it. One of the cheapest explosives, it burns slowly and cannot explode without a detonator, so it can be stored safely. It was invented in 1875 by Alfred Nobel, who had earlier invented dynamite. Unlike dynamite, gelignite does not suffer from the dangerous problem of sweating, the leaking of unstable nitroglycerine from the solid matrix.
Gelignite was used by the Provisional IRA during the early years of their revolutionary campaign against British forces and Unionist militants in Northern Ireland, but was later replaced by Semtex, a much more powerful plastic explosive, supplied by the Libyan government.
Unionist/ Loyalist Protestant paramilitary forces also made use of Gelignite, most notably in a series of bombings of water and electrical utility substations occurring throughout Belfast in April of 1969.
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