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Chemistry of Pyrotechnics
Chemistry of Pyrotechnics
Overview: This section exists to ll in a gap in knowledge. While I am aware of the dangers of becoming helplessly lost in out-of-scope research, I believe that at least a skin-deep understanding of the Chemistry of Pyrotechnics is required for two reasons. Firstly so that I am able to draw a relationship between thermodynamic properties and the chemical constituents of a rework. Secondly, and just as importantly, to facilitate communication between myself and individuals working in this eld. That said, this section is no more than a summary of select parts of a basic piece of literature relating to the manufacture of pyrotechnics. As such it may seem somewhat scattered, as the ow of the book is broken up in a way which highlights parts which I felt were meaningful to the problem of presented by my dissertation. It is assumed the reader has a basic understanding of some simple chemical properties and terms.
Thermodynamics
Pyrotechnic explosions involve an oxidation-reduction reaction. In basic terms, the fuel in a rework will be the an electron donor (thus it is reduced), and some other compound will be an electron acceptor (thus is it oxidized). Of great importance are the following questions: Is the reaction spontaneous? Will it actually occur if the oxidizer and fuel are mixed together? What is the rate at which this reaction occurs? For a reaction to be spontaneous, it is said that the products of the reaction must be of a lower free energy state than the reactants. Free Energy is the amount of work this thermodynamic system can perform. This free energy G, has 2 constituent parts. Enthalpy (H), which may be considered the internal energy of the system, and Entropy, which can be considered the randomness of the system, or better still, how evenly this internal energy is distributed within the system. Therefore, for our reaction to be spontaneous H must be a negative. As expected, the unit of Enthalpy, are calorie/mole, where 1 calorie = 4.184 Joule. Heat of Reaction It is possible to approximate the heat of a reaction by knowing what reactive products will be and using known values of heats of formation. A common Potassium Perchlorate mixture will produce 2.24 Calories/gram, about 9.37 Joule/gram. Rates of Chemical Reactions It was previously stated that for a reaction to be spontaneous H must be a negative gure. However, even with large values of H it will often be the case that reactions will not activate until an input of energy aptly named the activation energy is made.
As expected, once this activation barrier is broken, the temperature of the system rises, continues to rise, and thus increases the overall rate of reaction exponentially.
Barium Nitrate: [Ba(NO3)2], generally used as part of a mixture for green ame reactions. Common Fuels Fuels will often be nely graded metal powders, very popular is aluminum (Al), with magnesium (Mg) being a close second. Non-metals may also be used.
Glossary
Pyrotechnic Initiator: Some chemical compound (e.g. Thermite mixtures) which have reactions which are easy to initiate and are highly exothermic. The large heat outputs are used to start reactions in less reactive pyrotechnic mixtures.