Why is TNT not used for rocket fuel?

Paging: Sophia de Tricht I'm an absolute layperson in all matters combustive. My experience — what little I have — was wet chemistry. But even I can see problems with using TNT as rocket fuel. For one: It's a solid at room temperatures. read more

So engineering, energy density and, quite possibly, toxicity all make using TNT as rocket fuel inadvisable. read more

The biggest reason why they DON’T use gasoline as rocket fuel is no two batches of pump gas are alike. A piston engine doesn’t care what the ratio of hydrocarbons is in your gasoline. Rocket engines are designed around a specific blend of fuels. read more

This led to a specification called RP-1 (Rocket Propellant 1) which dictates that any fuel carrying the designation of RP-1 must have a certain level of various impurities (e.g. sulfur) and no more. This specification is tighter than specifications for jet fuel and other hydrocarbon fuels. read more