High-test Peroxide - Availability

Availability

Propellant-grade hydrogen peroxide is available to qualified buyers. In typical circumstances, this chemical is sold only to commercial companies or government institutions that have the ability to properly handle and utilize the material. Non-professionals have purchased hydrogen peroxide of 70% or lower concentration (the remaining 30% is water with traces of impurities and stabilizing materials, such as tin salts, phosphates, nitrates, and other chemical additives), and increased its concentration themselves. Distillation is extremely dangerous with hydrogen peroxide; peroxide vapor can ignite or detonate depending on specific combinations of temperature and pressure. In general, any boiling mass of high-concentration hydrogen peroxide at ambient pressure will produce vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide, which can detonate. This hazard is mitigated, but not entirely eliminated with vacuum distillation. Other approaches for concentrating hydrogen peroxide are sparging and fractional crystallization.

High-concentration hydrogen peroxide was formerly available in 70, 90, and 98% concentrations in sizes of 1-gallon, 30-gallon, and bulk-tanker truck volumes, but is now no longer available to the public in the United States due to action by the Department of Homeland Security.

Propellant-grade hydrogen peroxide is being used on current military systems and is in numerous defense and aerospace research and development programs. Many privately funded rocket companies are using hydrogen peroxide, such as Armadillo Aerospace and Blue Origin, and some amateur groups have expressed interest in manufacturing their own peroxide, for their use and for sale in small quantities to others.