T-Stoff (; 'substance T') was a stabilised

high test peroxide High-test peroxide (HTP) is a highly concentrated (85 to 98%) solution of hydrogen peroxide, with the remainder consisting predominantly of water. In contact with a catalyst, it decomposes into a high-temperature mixture of steam and oxygen, with n ...

used in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. T-Stoff was specified to contain 80% (occasionally 85%)

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3%� ...

(H₂O₂), remainder water, with traces (<0.1%) of stabilisers. Stabilisers used included 0.0025%

phosphoric acid Phosphoric acid (orthophosphoric acid, monophosphoric acid or phosphoric(V) acid) is a colorless, odorless phosphorus-containing solid, and inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is commonly encountered as an 85% aqueous solution, w ...

, a mixture of phosphoric acid,

sodium phosphate Sodium phosphate is a generic term for a variety of salts of sodium (Na+) and phosphate (PO43−). Phosphate also forms families or condensed anions including di-, tri-, tetra-, and polyphosphates. Most of these salts are known in both anhyd ...

and 8-oxyquinoline, and sodium stannate.

Uses

The decomposition of T-Stoff into hot steam and oxygen caused by the addition of the catalyst

Z-Stoff Z-Stoff (, "substance Z") was a name for calcium permanganate or sodium permanganate mixed in water. It was normally used as a catalyst for T-Stoff ( high-test peroxide) in military rocket programs by Nazi Germany during World War II. Z-Stoff was ...

(an aqueous solution of

permanganate A permanganate () is a chemical compound containing the manganate(VII) ion, , the conjugate base of permanganic acid. Because the manganese atom is in the +7 oxidation state, the permanganate(VII) ion is a strong oxidizing agent. The ion is a tr ...

s) was used to drive the split-tube steam catapults which launched the

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

. Similarly generated steam was used to drive the

turbopump A turbopump is a propellant pump with two main components: a rotodynamic pump and a driving gas turbine, usually both mounted on the same shaft, or sometimes geared together. They were initially developed in Germany in the early 1940s. The purpo ...

in the German V2 rocket, and the pumps in several other rocket engines. The turbopump was used to transport fuel and oxidizer liquids under pressure to the rocket engine of the V2. Another of T-Stoff's many uses was to be combined as the oxidizer, with C-Stoff ( methanol– hydrazine–water mixture) as the fuel, in the

bipropellant The highest specific impulse chemical rockets use liquid propellants (liquid-propellant rockets). They can consist of a single chemical (a monopropellant) or a mix of two chemicals, called bipropellants. Bipropellants can further be divided into ...

Walter HWK 109-509 engine of the Messerschmitt Me 163 and Messerschmitt Me 263, at a ratio of approximately 3.1 parts T-Stoff oxidizer to one part C-Stoff fuel. Because the two substances were so visually similar, a complex testing system was developed to make sure that each propellant was put into the correct tanks of the Messerschmitt Me 163. This was because T-Stoff and C-Stoff are

hypergolic A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. T ...

propellants: they spontaneously ignite when mixed at normal temperatures. Even slight contamination between the T-Stoff oxidizer and the C-Stoff fuel was likely to cause an explosion. Catalytic decomposition of T-Stoff by Z-Stoff was also used as a

monopropellant Monopropellants are propellants consisting of chemicals that release energy through exothermic chemical decomposition. The molecular bond energy of the monopropellant is released usually through use of a catalyst. This can be contrasted with bipro ...

in several "cold" Walter rocket engines, including early versions of the engine for the Me 163A, and rocket-assisted takeoff pack engines like the Walter HWK 109-500.

Precautions

Because of its extreme oxidizing potential, T-Stoff was a very dangerous chemical to handle, so special rubberized suits were required when working with it, as it would react with most cloth, leather, or other combustible material and cause it to spontaneously combust. T-Stoff corroded

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

and steel, and thus had to be kept in

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

tanks. Conversely, C-Stoff ate through aluminium and had to be kept in

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

or enamel. T-Stoff containers were white, C-Stoff containers were yellow. The tanker trucks carrying T-Stoff and C-Stoff, clearly marked "T" and "C" were forbidden to come within 800 meters of each other.

References

Rocket oxidizers High-test peroxide German inventions of the Nazi period {{rocket-stub

Uses

Precautions

See also

References