Asedefecio Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Maybe I'm asking something stupid, given that there aren't many (or any) boron based compositions.Why is boron not used in pyro?I mean, where I live I can buy boric acid easily, unlike barium nitrate or other copper compounds.
pyrokid Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 Boron is generally more expensive than barium compounds in the United States
Mumbles Posted January 24, 2014 Posted January 24, 2014 The biggest reason is probably that boron is a poor emitter. It looks great close up and in large quantities, but if you tried to make stars based on anything but elemental boron, you'd likely only seem a dim dot in the sky. There is also the fact that boric acid and borates, the commonly available forms of boron, are all very stable and are actually quite flame retardant because it takes so much energy to break them down. That's not always a problem for us with the use of metal fuels, but you still run into other issues. Elemental boron, which is significantly more expensive, is used in pyro in some kind of niche applications. It's used in gasless delays and some ignitor compositions, as well as green colored stars even (though mostly an academic pursuit). There are also military applications. Fair warning, composition containing elemental boron can be quite sensitive.
Asedefecio Posted January 24, 2014 Author Posted January 24, 2014 That's too bad.Coming from a place where not even road flares are permitted, much less K chlorate and perc, I think I'll have to stick to yellow sodium stars
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