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Accelerating rate calorimeter studies of water-induced thermal hazards of fireworks tip mixture

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Abstract

The objective of this article is to generate thermal decomposition data on fireworks tip mixture, a mixture used to coat the tip of fireworks, for easy ignition. This mixture has reportedly involved in triggering many accidents in fireworks industry. Different quantities of water were added to the mixture and its thermal characteristics were studied. Differential scanning calorimeter was used for screening tests and accelerating rate calorimeter was used for detailed studies in adiabatic and isothermal modes. The self-heat rate data obtained showed onset temperature for different quantity of water, at a range of 80–170 °C. The mixture with 40 % water wt/wt had onset at 80 °C in adiabatic mode. The same mixture on isoaging at 40 °C exhibited exothermic characteristics with a substantial rise in system pressure (57 bar). The heats of exothermic decomposition and Arrhenius kinetics were also computed.

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Abbreviations

KNO3 :

Potassium nitrate

BaNO3 :

Barium nitrate

Al:

Aluminum

C :

Concentration

T :

Temperature/°C

T 0 :

Initial temperature/°C

T F :

Final temperature/°C

∆H r :

Heat of reaction/J g−1

ϕ:

Thermal inertia

ΔT :

Temperature difference/°C

ΔT ad :

Corrected temperature difference/°C

m S :

Mass of sample/g

m B :

Mass of bomb/g

k :

Rate coefficient

m T :

Rate of temperature increase/°C min−1

k* :

Pseudo rate constant

E a :

Activation energy/kC mol−1

R :

Universal gas constant

A :

Pre-exponential factor/s−1

\( \bar{C}_{\text{p}} \) :

Average heat capacity/J g−1 K−1

\( \bar{C}_{\text{ps}} \) :

Average heat capacity of sample/J g−1 K−1

\( \bar{C}_{\text{pB}} \) :

Average heat capacity of bomb/J g−1 K−1

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Prof NR Rajagopal for his encouragement. One of the authors Sridhar VP thanks CSIR, New Delhi for SRF fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thermochemical Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Adyar, Chennai, 600020, Tamilnadu, India

    Vethathiri Pakkirisamy Sridhar, Mahadevan Surianarayanan & Asit Baran Mandal

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, 620015, India

    Suthangathan Paramashivan Sivapirakasam

Authors
  1. Vethathiri Pakkirisamy Sridhar
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  2. Mahadevan Surianarayanan
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  3. Suthangathan Paramashivan Sivapirakasam
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  4. Asit Baran Mandal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahadevan Surianarayanan.

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Sridhar, V.P., Surianarayanan, M., Sivapirakasam, S.P. et al. Accelerating rate calorimeter studies of water-induced thermal hazards of fireworks tip mixture. J Therm Anal Calorim 112, 1335–1341 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2716-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2716-5

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