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How to store finished compositions/stars?


AzoMittle

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Don't shoot me because I'm not the safety Nazi but two things I didn't notice in this thread that I am aware of and think I am correct on.

 

I think the powers that be prefer fuels and oxidizers stored in a way that should a fire happen they can't easily commingle. I do believe just a set distance that this shouldn't be able to happen is acceptable. I like that idea myself and try to practice it. I actually keep my metal fuels in a whole different structure in my new setup. It's still a work in progress organizing, but I'm getting there.

 

I saw the question of storing crackle. I seem to recall a story about having a double based nitrocellulose crackle separate the nitro glycerin out of the crackle during an extended storage. I can inquire about this if anyone wants further details. I believe they attributed part of the problem to the size of the batch and it might not be of such concern to us, but seems to me it might be worth thinking about a little. I've never tried the NC bound crackle so it's not been an issue for me.

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Any idea of the scale, or timeframe?

 

5-10kg?

 

less than 5 years? more than 10?

Was it actually a problem? my problem with all forms of nitro are not when they leach nitroglycerine, but when you get decomposition.

 

I've found too many containers with nitric acid condensing on the walls or worse yet, filled with nitrogen dioxide. All of these have been taken away instantly and carefully burned to destroy them safely. I'm mostly talking NC. Double base tends to be much more stable in the "long shelf life" way, not due to the NG, but due to stabilising additives.

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I don't recall the specifics, but I'll inquire and see if I can enough details to share or see if they will share the details themselves so questions could easily be posed about it.
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If your crackle is sitting for more than a few months you're not having enough fun!

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Currently converting a garage to a pyro workshop. If anyone else would like to share some pics of their setup, it would help to get some ideas.

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Got me some plastic ammo cans cheap today at TSC. Also got a very large Plano dry box (3x2x2) at a great price. I still like my metal cans but these seem pretty durable and lightweight.

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I think any thing like your ammo cans (plastic or metal), buckets with lids, dry boxes...etc. Are a good idea. Even if they won't hold up to prolonged heat exposure, a sealed container should still prevent stored comps from an errant spark or flash fire. If I had a star go off unexpectedly Id rather have it bounce off even a deli container then a ziplock baggy.
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Boo wrote: "I saw the question of storing crackle. I seem to recall a story about having a double based nitrocellulose crackle separate the nitro glycerin out of the crackle during an extended storage."

---

And Seymore asked:

Any idea of the scale, or timeframe?

5-10kg?

less than 5 years? more than 10?
Was it actually a problem? my problem with all forms of nitro are not when they leach nitroglycerine, but when you get decomposition.

 

-----------------

Not in any particular order --

It was a 7.5Kg batch of bismuth crackle with the NC lacquer (double-based), acetone, et. al. already mixed, ready for granulation.

 

For reasons I don't understand (perhaps encroaching weather), the tech put the material in a loosely-covered plastic bucket, and put it under a workbench -- then completely forgot it. It sat - best as I can determine - for about 1-1/2 years, with the acetone evaporating, and the mass shrinking in the bottom of the bucket.

 

As one of the safety directors of the company (I was GM, but all senior management were 'safety directors'), I noticed a number of containers under a bench that had old dates on them. I asked a tech to carry them to the porch, where I could examine them.

 

When I uncovered that one in question, I saw a solid, shrunken, and 'dished' mass of dried crackle comp on the bottom with a small puddle (maybe 1/2 fl.oz. -- 10 cc) of yellowish, oily liquid in the middle of the 'dish'.

 

I gently touched it, and smelled it. I knew what it was, and had no use for tasting it, because I knew the terrible BOOMING headache I'd have gotten, had I actually touched it to my tongue!

 

My only surmise is that the mechanical action of shrinkage had actually expressed the NG from its 'solid solution' with the nitrocellulose.

 

We disposed of the mass and the liquid safely.

 

I do NOT think this is the sort of thing that would ordinarily happen to an amateur. He/she is unlikely to completely forget a bucket-full of comp ready-for-processing, and which cost several hundred dollars to make. But I guess it could happen.

 

We've stored finished DRIED crackle granules for many years without degradation, and all the crackle we made was with double-base powder.

 

LLoyd

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