a question and a contribution all in one post!

[flamingape]

I need all the info available on KNO3 color comps and links to the chemistry of color in pyrotechnics. heavy reading is prefered over pretty picture bullshit.

 

 

i dont know if anyone knew this already but steel wool (the fine kind) shaken in a coffee blended mixture of

 

KNO3 10

Fe2O3 3

C 5

S 1

 

or green mix (but it reacts endothermically and is NOT storable)

 

burns as fast as milled black powder, I have been using it for little impromptu noisemakers.

[tentacles]

I doubt anyone here is interested in unstable/unpredictable mixtures except as something to avoid..

 

I wasn't aware of *any* KNO3 color comps, unless you're referring to white, yellow or possibly orange. For color you need chloride salts forming in the reaction, so using chlorates/perchlorates makes sense as you supply oxygen and chlorine at the same time (although additional chlorine is typically desired).

[flamingape]

the first is stable with the steel wool and quite powerful actually...i just made a rocket (no steel wool) using the same method i make my green mix rockets and it simply 'sploded...first time in three months of daily manufacture that that happened.

 

as to the second part... thats the problem..i was advised against using chlorates yet. I was told I need experience making "colored fountains"

 

 

wtf...

[tentacles]

Perhaps you should consider making colored fountains with barium and strontium nitrates, these work quite well as the emission spectra of Ba and Sr are quite strong. Ba nitrate isn't so easy to get as Sr, but it is do-able.

 

Also, why not perchlorate? It's considerably safer than chlorate as far as sensitivity and incompatibilities. K perc will make serviceable green blue and red if the perc is of good quality. I suggest chinese standard or HP-140/150. The domestic is crap and the spanish has more sodium than the chinese. The taiwanese (in it's modern incarnation) is crap, stay far from it.

[oskarchem]

The best would be to start of with red fountains, just because, the Stronium Nitrate will burn red without a chlorine donor (actually, I have no idea why). Personnally, my color compositions use Mg as the fuel, PVC as the chlorine donor, and Sr(NO3)2 (or Na(NO3)2)as oxidiser.

[Swede]

Are the carbonates of Strontium and Barium useful? They seem both less expensive, and less toxic, than the nitrates.

[nejc@]

Are the carbonates of Strontium and Barium useful? They seem both less expensive, and less toxic, than the nitrates.

Yes, they are, but you must add more strong potassium oxidizer in the composition. There are alot compositions using Ba and Sr carbonate instead of nitrates

[justanotherpyro]

Are the carbonates of Strontium and Barium useful?  They seem both less expensive, and less toxic, than the nitrates.

The red star that I use is an organic red with SrCO3. The BaCo3 tends to be more washed out than a green with Ba(NO3)2 IIRC. Here is a 2 inch shell with the red stars I'm talking about. http://www.apcforum.net/files/JAP2inchred.wmv

[hst45]

Yeah, same here. I can make a red star that I like using strontium carbonate, but the greens that I get with barium carbonate are too washed out for my liking.