white smoke

[yvariro]

theses day I'm testing some smoke compositions,i want to improve the standard ratio 60/40 kno3/sugar,I think it's too rapid,so i made a 50/50 litle smoke bomb,with no nozle (i just cover the end with paper,way like in the cylindric shell) ,dry mix,the component was airfloat and it cato.... So I'mgoing to try with parafix wax 1:1:1

 

I have also noticed,when the composition have more sugar (like in the 50:50) the smoke appears darker than the 60/40 ratio

 

short5,have tried to color your stars ?

[KI4BHG]

hi,

 

i am currrently using the following mixture

 

ammonium chloride 41.2%

potassium chlorate 35.3%

lactose 23.5%

 

i would like to

1) increase the burn rate

2) increase the smoke density

 

doing one seems to exclude the other...................any merits in using a small amont of colophony in the mix ?

any thoughts welcome

 

the mix is prepared prior to use, even though literature suggests such mixes are in fact stable ( i am aware of ammonium chlorate issues)

 

any better mixes ? low toxicity mixes ?

 

dave

 

i have had great results from AN, Cellulos(fine wood chips sold as bedding), and dextrin. still experimenting with ratio to produce the desired results (DURATION VS. DENSITTY) but the more dextrin the slower the burn and this mix can be hard to light, it also dose better if the comp is warm when lit. but pretty much you want the cellulos as saturated with AN as posible then add varing amounts of dexrin and experiment, some thins like minor amount of sulfur, Al, Mg aid in lighting and increase burn rate (small amounts mean 1-5%)

Edited August 11, 2013 by KI4BHG

[deer]

Sorry for bringing up such an old thread, but seeing how most places that currently sell commercial white smoke devices to individuals use KClO3 / NH4Cl combination, I must ask why you consider it so dangerous? Be it chimney / ventilation testers at home depot (those even state on packaging that they use exactly Chlorate and ammonium chloride), smoke sources for fire drills or RC plane tracers, all use this or variation of this composition. Actually, besides the coloured ones, haven’t seen anything else for sale to individuals. And they are stored for years in plain cold and humid warehouses.

 

Then I'm thinking either this composition actually cannot produce Ammonium Chlorate or there is a sure way to counter this (or NHClO3's ignition). Already several of you have said that the formation of NHClO3 is not possible with this mixture, still, what additives would assure this completely? I see some have Sodium Bicarbonate in their formulas? Is this just to slow down burning or maybe it helps stabilizing the mixture (E.g. against acids)? What could one add to bind with water while not influencing the composition? How would KCl behave in this mixture? I hope some chemist could answer this.

 

Even if it might be concerning during storage, I think the low toxicity and flameless, low pressure (loosely contained) smoke production gives it huge safety advantage during use (when it's likely to have audience or flammable stuff around it). While you can always store in clean, safe place in a fire proof container. For example the "safe" KNO3+Sugar+Parafin mixture burns violently, often setting fire to container, ejecting burning pieces of it self or even propelling stronger containers.

 

Cheers!

 

EDIT: Typo.

Edited April 23, 2015 by deer

[FlaMtnBkr]

I'm not a chemist and don't know the technical terminology. But basically the 2 won't complete the double decomp reaction needed to form ammonium chlorate. Basically the ions would rather combine to form ammonium chloride and potassium chlorate instead of potassium chloride and ammonium chlorate.

 

This is the only combination of an ammonium salt and chlorate salt that is considered safe.