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chlorate unintended ignition.


Tourbillon

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I have been doing experiments with H3, making small 100g batches using diffrent types of charcoal with components of varying mesh.

 

This morning I was testing my last batch. With all of the compositions I have been making I have been doing friction and sensitivity tests to get a better understanding of the properties of the materials. H3 the only composition containing potassium chlorate.

 

After doing the mentioned tests on my last batch of h3 on rice hulls and doing a burn test I dubbed this batch a failure as the burn rate was slow.

 

I had about 50g left and just dumped it off the drying screen into my ss rolling bowl to be disposed of after cleaning up. Now in the back of my head leaving it out is a ss bowl was a friction hazard but at the same time I thought "it's a small test batch. I'll abuse it a little and see what happens".

 

I washed some of my screens and did some cleanup. Came back an hour later and the bowl was empty. All of the h3 had burned off.

 

I had originally left the bowl in the shade, But apparently the sun had moved and now the bowl was in full sun. Guessing it got hot enough to ignite.

 

Before this happened I had just about written off h3 as burst simply because I don't think I have it worked out yet. But this event sealed the deal. I will move on to perchlorate burst compositions.

 

The lesson:

Doing tests in small quantities, researching and testing composistion properties, and establishing safety practices are all mandatory to avoiding injury and property damage. One day (probably soon) I intend to try to recreate this event to better understand it.

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The stainless bowl will act like a parabolic reflector and concentrate the heat in one spot. I actually had plain AF charcoal start smoldering in a mixing bowl left in the sun. Scary!
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Yea I had figured that. It's amazing how fast it went from cool and shaded to "poof"
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I got a bug up my butt and mixed up some shimizu blue with clorate. It was on my to do list later down the road. I scattered a bit in the clean shiny bowl and then angled it in the sun to concentrate the light as much as possible on one point. While it didn't ignite it did turn black in that spot after about 1 hour in the sun.

 

Just wanted to clarify as suggested this was a result of handling and could happen to any comp. Re reading this I guess I was blaming the chlorate.

 

In either case I'm dumping the h3 project for now. The chlorate will be reassigned to comparing shimizu blue using perchlorate and using chlorate.

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Chlorate can be used safely. I think the Chinese do it all the time to get more vibrant color. Really I think most colors except blue and be achieved by non-profit chlorate formulas. So personally I totally avoid chlorate. I may well be wrong but seems I remember reading the open burn rate of H3 is slower than you might expect but confinement is where the power is generated. Edited by Merlin
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It's not just chlorate that does this. A friend of mine had the same thing happen with a batch of Blesser's white strobe. I suspect most any composition will ignite under similar circumstances. H3 is actually quite insensitive, at least to friction and impact. I'm not sure how sensitive it is to thermal ignition. The bowls are at the heart of the issue, not the composition.

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It's not just chlorate that does this. A friend of mine had the same thing happen with a batch of Blesser's white strobe. I suspect most any composition will ignite under similar circumstances. H3 is actually quite insensitive, at least to friction and impact. I'm not sure how sensitive it is to thermal ignition. The bowls are at the heart of the issue, not the composition.

I agree. I was trying to clarify that point on my later post, in hindsight I should have thought out my original post more.

I have yet to be able to get an ignition from H3 by friction and impact. I still treat it like breathing too hard will set it of though. Just trying to develop good habits ;).

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"Just trying to develop good habits..."

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

Good on you! Don't EVER stop that discipline! Good habits will help you avoid unconscious accidents.

 

Lloyd

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I agree. I was trying to clarify that point on my later post, in hindsight I should have thought out my original post more.

I have yet to be able to get an ignition from H3 by friction and impact. I still treat it like breathing too hard will set it of though. Just trying to develop good habits ;).

I inferred from your post that you had figured out the bowl was the cause and I only pointed it so others wouldn't make the mistake of blaming the comp rather than the process and the bowl. I have one shallow bowl I could light a cigarette with until I quit smoking!

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Ever use a magnifying glass in the sun? Can ignite nearly anything with it. A bowl of the right shape is just as effective.

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Ever use a magnifying glass in the sun? Can ignite nearly anything with it. A bowl of the right shape is just as effective.

I have never had luck with that, guess I just needed a shiny bowl full of composition. :P

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This gave me a fools idea.... Had anybody thought about a sun dial announcing the hours with firecrackers or some dragon eggs? Must be reloaded every day... :-)

 

A good precaution when putting something live outside to dry could be to place a cloth over it?

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  • 5 months later...

 

H3 burn rate, this is as fast a powder as I have ever created (besides primaries)

Edited by Simoski
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It makes me happy and scared 8 )

 

Did you ever find that some type of wood was better than another with H3 USAPyro? If so which was the best?

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Getting back to the topic a little more...

Here tests I did with K chlorate and sulfur ( read the comments section of the video for some interesting insight )

 

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Ever use a magnifying glass in the sun? Can ignite nearly anything with it. A bowl of the right shape is just as effective.

Look here...

https://youtu.be/KMyM26fCNQI

Edited by Simoski
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