[ noun ] a substance that oxidizes another substance <noun.substance>
Oxidizer \Ox"i*di`zer\, n. (Chem.) An agent employed in oxidation, or which facilitates or brings about combination with oxygen; as, nitric acid, chlorine, bromine, etc., are strong oxidizers.
Ted Olsen, spokesman for rocket-maker Hercules Inc. in Magna, Utah, said Kerr-McGee and Pacific Engineering also supply Hercules with oxidizer.
Kerr-McGee and Pepcon were the only companies in the United States producing the critical fuel oxidizer, and the loss of the Pepcon plant left U.S. officials faced with a possible shortage of the critical fuel element.
The only other U.S. plant that made the chemical, an oxidizer that is mixed with a propellant to make solid rocket fuel, was leveled by explosion May 4.
Nitrogen tetroxide serves as an oxidizer in the engines, providing oxygen to ignite the fuel when the shuttle is in oxygen-poor space.
The oxidizer makes sure the solid rocket fuel burns evenly.
The unexplained blast at Henderson, Nev., on Wednesday also prompted the closure of a nearby Kerr-McGee Chemical Inc. plant, the only other domestic source of the oxidizer.
The plant came under scrutiny after the only other U.S. plant manufacturing the rocket fuel oxidizer was destroyed in a series of explosions May 4 that killed two people and caused an estimated $73 million damage.
The rocket is powered by a solid fuel, but uses liquid oxygen as the oxidizer.
Its sole purpose is to vent excess air when the nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer tank is being filled.