T-Stoff (; 'substance T') was a stabilised high test peroxide used in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

(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, ...

, a mixture of phosphoric acid,

sodium phosphate A sodium phosphate is a generic variety of salts of sodium () and phosphate (). Phosphate also forms families or condensed anions including di-, tri-, tetra-, and polyphosphates. Most of these salts are known in both anhydrous (water-free) and ...

and 8-oxyquinoline, and

sodium stannate Sodium stannate, formally sodium hexahydroxostannate(IV), is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2 n(OH)6 This colourless salt forms upon dissolving metallic tin or tin(IV) oxide in sodium hydroxide and is used as a stabiliser for hydrogen ...

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 with the manganate(VII) ion, , the conjugate base of permanganic acid. Because the manganese atom has a +7 oxidation state, the permanganate(VII) ion is a strong oxidising agent. The ion is a transition ...

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

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

. Similarly generated steam was used to drive the

turbopump A turbopump is a fluid 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 most co ...

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 C-Stoff (; "substance C") was a Redox, reductant used in bipropellant rocket fuels (as a fuel itself) developed by Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft in Germany during World War II. It was developed for use with T-Stoff (a high-test peroxide) ...

(

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

–

hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly hazardous unless handled in solution as, for example, hydraz ...

–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 The Walter HWK 109-509 was a German liquid-fuel bipropellant rocket engine that powered the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and Bachem Ba 349 aircraft. It was produced by Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft (HWK) commencing in 1943, with licensed ...

engine of the

Messerschmitt Me 163 The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as ...

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. The ...

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 biprop ...

in several "cold"

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

rocket engines, including early versions of the engine for the Me 163A, and rocket-assisted takeoff pack engines like the

Walter HWK 109-500 The Walter HWK 109-500 was a Liquid-propellant rocket, liquid-fuelled rocket engine developed by Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft, Walter in Germany during the World War II, Second World War. Description The 109-500 is a self-contained, ...

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; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

, and thus had to be kept in

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

tanks. Conversely,

ate through aluminium and had to be kept in

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

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

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

Uses

Precautions

See also

References