Aluminum Magnesium Potassium Ammonium Sodium Lithium Producer perchlorate perchlorate perchlorate perchlorate perchlorate perchlorate

Commercial interest in perchlorates began in the late 1890s/early 1900s in Europe and the United States as a direct result of the pioneering efforts in rockets and their propulsion systems (Mendiratta et al. 1996). The production of ammonium perchlorate, the largest component of solid rocket propellants, far outpaced that of the other perchlorates listed in Table 4-1. Their commercial manufacture began later, and it was not until 1928 when GFS Chemicals began producing magnesium perchlorate for use as a dessicant (GFS 1997) that these salts became available on the U.S. market. Up until 1940, the total worldwide production of perchlorates had not exceeded 3.6 million pounds. An abrupt change in production was realized with the onset of World War II and the resulting increase in demand for rocket and missile propellants. Annual perchlorate production quickly increased to 36 million pounds because of this demand and remained at a high level thereafter (Mendiratta et al. 1996). By 1974, U.S. perchlorate production had reached 50 million pounds (Vogt et al. 2005).