Skyboomer Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I have some potassium perchlorate, 2 micron Indian dark aluminum, 325 mesh mg/al and 325 mesh titanium. what would be the proper ratios in parts for flash with titanium added to it? I’ve heard the titanium can just be mixed in regardless of the ratio but think if I did that it would slow down the flash powder. I usually use the 70:30 ratio for perc/al. I was also wondering what the ratios would be for a perch/mgal/titanium powder. Also what safety measures other than the usual should I be concerned about, particularly the mg/al based one. I use all the safety measures that I know of. Everything is grounded (including me) and sprayed with anti static spray. I have a cool mist humidifier to add humidity if needed, though I’m a bit confused about chemical's stating that they shouldn’t be exposed to moisture and also having a high humidity in the work area at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustralianPyromaniac Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) On 1/1/2024 at 4:14 PM, Skyboomer said: I have some potassium perchlorate, 2 micron Indian dark aluminum, 325 mesh mg/al and 325 mesh titanium. what would be the proper ratios in parts for flash with titanium added to it? I’ve heard the titanium can just be mixed in regardless of the ratio but think if I did that it would slow down the flash powder. I usually use the 70:30 ratio for perc/al. I was also wondering what the ratios would be for a perch/mgal/titanium powder. Also what safety measures other than the usual should I be concerned about, particularly the mg/al based one. I use all the safety measures that I know of. Everything is grounded (including me) and sprayed with anti static spray. I have a cool mist humidifier to add humidity if needed, though I’m a bit confused about chemical's stating that they shouldn’t be exposed to moisture and also having a high humidity in the work area at the same time. The stochiometric ratio for KClO4:Al flash is 65.8 : 34.2. More oxidizer is favorable to achieve complete reaction, hence approx 70 : 30. Perchlorate MgAl proceeds as below 5 KClO4 + 8 Mg + 8 Al -> 8 MgO + 4 Al2O3 + 5 KCl Calculated ideal ratio from this is 81.2 : 18.8. A working ratio may be 85 : 15 (THIS IS WRONG SEE 2nd AND 3rd POSTS BELOW) --- Humidity, i.e. water vapor carries away static charge by bumping into things and picking up their charge, then floating away. It's not the same as normal water, which is liquid and will land on things. Water can generate heat by reaction with MgAl. Humidity in the air will not do this. When people say no water, they mean do not actively wet the mixture. Your ultrasonic mister actually generates small liquid water particles which must be evaporated by the air, this is not ideal as some will settle. If you want to use it, run it before you do your work, not during. Humidity above 50% is sufficient, especially with everything else you are doing. Just mop the floor before you work. Or throw water on the ground. If you want to use a humidifier to be next to you and on while you're working, you need a hot mist humidifier. --- The point of the Ti is not to be burned in the flame, but in the atmosphere. The flash mix heats it up and throws it into the air, then it burns. If it burned in the flash it would not be visible, it would all be gone in 1/100th of a second. What you see is the metal burning in the air. This means we do not include it at all when we calculate the flash formula. A normal ratio for flash salutes is 10g of flash to 1g of titanium. So +10% --- I think you got all the safety measures down, small batches, diaper method, all the rest is important as well of course. You have 10 fingers, at least some to spare don't worry too much, flash can smell fear. Edited January 4 by AustralianPyromaniac 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyboomer Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 Thank you. That was very informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbullzuiper Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 11 hours ago, AustralianPyromaniac said: The stochiometric ratio for KClO4:Al flash is 65.8 : 34.2. More oxidizer is favorable to achieve complete reaction, hence approx 70 : 30. Perchlorate MgAl proceeds as below 5 KClO4 + 8 Mg + 8 Al -> 8 MgO + 4 Al2O3 + 5 KCl Calculated ideal ratio from this is 81.2 : 18.8. A working ratio may be 85 : 15 --- Humidity, i.e. water vapor carries away static charge by bumping into things and picking up their charge, then floating away. It's not the same as normal water, which is liquid and will land on things. Water can generate heat by reaction with MgAl. Humidity in the air will not do this. When people say no water, they mean do not actively wet the mixture. Your ultrasonic mister actually generates small liquid water particles which must be evaporated by the air, this is not ideal as some will settle. If you want to use it, run it before you do your work, not during. Humidity above 50% is sufficient, especially with everything else you are doing. Just mop the floor before you work. Or throw water on the ground. If you want to use a humidifier to be next to you and on while you're working, you need a hot mist humidifier. --- The point of the Ti is not to be burned in the flame, but in the atmosphere. The flash mix heats it up and throws it into the air, then it burns. If it burned in the flash it would not be visible, it would all be gone in 1/100th of a second. What you see is the metal burning in the air. This means we do not include it at all when we calculate the flash formula. A normal ratio for flash salutes is 10g of flash to 1g of titanium. So +10% --- I think you got all the safety measures down, small batches, diaper method, all the rest is important as well of course. You have 10 fingers, at least some to spare don't worry too much, flash can smell fear. 85:15 for magnalium flash? I always make either 5:5 or 6:4, the latter gives a deeper report. 7:3 using magnalium wil make some kind of strobe effect, I doubt 85:15 will burn at all? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustralianPyromaniac Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 (edited) I’ve just recalculated it and yes you’re completely right. The theoretical perfect ratio is 62.5 : 37.5 KClO4 : MgAl. Not sure what went wrong. Thanks for correcting me It also looks like there's some info to suggest a fuel-rich mixture in MgAl flash is preferred to an oxidiser-rich mixture. I cannot think why this would be, but something to consider. Going down to 60:40, 55:45 may give better performance. Edited January 4 by AustralianPyromaniac 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyboomer Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 A 50:50 ratio also seems to be recommended. as for titanium, I was thinking about making some type of small spheres/tubes with it with some type of binder. I’m testing my creativity. I was thinking about making some pea size piles and putting a drop of super glue on each one (I’ll test for reaction on all the ingredients far away from everything) I’m also considering mixing it into some rocket candy and soy wax then cutting up a straw into small pieces and molding the wax into them. It sounds like an easy way to make stars.. if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHNO Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 62.8% KClO4 / 19.6% Al / 17.6% Mg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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