Summary

The number of points of contact between particles of fuel and

particles of oxidant in various pyrotechnic mixtures have been cal-
culated on the assumption that the fuel and oxidant powders consist of
uniform spherical particles of different sizes. The calculated numbers
of contact points are compared with the experimental burning rates of
these mixtures. In spite of the severe approximations made, there is a
qualitative connection between the calculated numbers of contact
points, N
R
, and the measured burning rates, v, of those pyrotechnic
compositions which are presumed to burn mainly via solid-solid
reactions.
1. Introduction
Hao and Tanaka
(1)
have shown that in a binary mixture of
solids A and B, if the particles of A and B are assumed to be
uniformly spherical with radii, r
A
and r
B
, and molar den-
sities (mol m
73
), r
A
and r
B
, respectively, and if the initial
amounts of A and B (in moles) are m
AO
and m
BO
, the total
number of contact points between the two kinds of spheres,
for this specied amount of mixture, is
N
R
= XYyZ
where
X = [3(1 E
A
)m
AO
y(pr
A
r
3
A
)]
Y = [(1 R
r
2y)
2
{2R
r
(1 R
r
)y]
2
]
Z = [(1 y)(R
r
y)
2
{3(R
r
y)
2
(1 y)(R
2
r
y)]]
and E
A
= the surface porosity
(2)
of the spherical packing,
R
r
= r
B
yr
A
Y R
r
= r
B
yr
A
Y R
m
= m
B0
ym
A0
Y
and y = R
3
r
R
r
yR
m
X
A contact point is dened
(3,4)
as a small connection pipe
with nite area and thickness.
Examples of one of the many classes of practically
important binary mixtures of solid particles are the solid
fuelasolid oxidant mixtures extensively used in pyrotechnic
applications. The initial interactions of such mixtures are
generally assumed to be exothermic solid-solid reactions of
the type:
aA(s) bB(s) products
The temperature, however, rises rapidly and melting, vapor-
ization, decompositions of oxidants, and solid-gas reactions
may participate. Experimentally determined burning rates
have been reported for numerous binary fuelaoxidant com-
binations. Table 1 gives a list of a selection of pyrotechnic
systems for which a considerable amount of experimental
information is available and summarizes the main character-
istics of these systems. More details of the fuel and oxidant
samples used are given in Table 2.
FuelOxidant Particle Contact in Binary Pyrotechnic Reactions
Michael E. Brown
(*)
, Steven J. Taylor, and Michael J. Tribelhorn
Chemistry Department, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140 (South Africa)
Kontaktstellen zwischen den Brennstoff- und den Oxidator-Par-
tikeln bei binaren pyrotechnischen Reaktionen
Die Zahl der Beruhrungspunkte zwischen den Brennstoff- und den
Oxidator-Partikeln in verschiedenartigen pyrotechnischen Mischungen
wurde berechnet unter der Annahme, da die Brennstoff- und Oxi-
datorpulver aus einheitlichen kugeligen Teilchen von unterschied-
licher Korngroe bestehen. Die berechnete Zahl der Kontakstellen
wird verglichen mit den experimentellen Abbrandgeschwindigkeiten
dieser Mischungen. Trotz der gemachten Naherungen gibt es einen
qualitativen Zusammenhang zwischen der berechneten Anzahl an
Kontaktpynkten N
R
und den gemessenen Abbrandgeschwindigkeiten v
solcher pyrotechnischer Mischungen, die vermutlich bevorzugt uber
Feststoff-Feststoffreaktionen abbrennen.
Points de contact entre particules combustibles et oxydantes lors
de reactions pyrotechniques binaires
On a calcule le nombre de points de contact entre les particules
combustibles et les particules oxydantes dans differents melanges
pyrotechniques en supposant que les poudres combustibles et oxy-
dantes sont composees de particules spheriques uniformes de granu-
lometrie differente. Le nombre de points de contact calcule est
compare aux vitesses de combustion experimentales de ces melanges.
En depit des approximations faites, il y a une correlation qualitative
entre le nombre calcule de points de contact N
R
et les vitesses de
combustion mesurees v de ces melanges pyrotechniques, dont on
suppose que la combustion est principalement le fait de reactions
solidesasolides.
(*)
To whom correspondence should be addressed,
(E-mail: chmb@warthog.ru.ac.za)
Table 1. Main Characteristics of the Binary Pyrotechnic Systems
SYSTEM Range of Burning Composition Reference
compositions rates at
mx
(mass % fuel) (mms
71
) (% fuel)
SbaKMnO
4
3070 228 60 58
FeaBaO
2
1550 642 30 23
FeaSrO
2
2055 49 25, 45 23
MnaBaO
2
1565 1.711.7 20 1922
MnaSrO
2
2080 4.512.3 75 1922
MoaBaO
2
2070 2.710.1 45 1922
MoaSrO
2
4045 2.22.3 40 1922
SiaSnO
2
2055 517 40 14,15,17,18
SiaFe
2
O
3
2040 2.34.5 40 14,15,17,18
SiaKNO
3
3085 235 85 14,1618
SiaSb
2
O
3
2050 1.68.7 40 14,1618
WaK
2
Cr
2
O
7
3085 1.025 70 912
SiaPb
3
O
4
550 40257 15 13
# WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, D-69451 Weinheim, 1998 0721-3115/98/03060320 $17.50X50a0
320 Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998)
In this paper, the assumption of uniform spherical parti-
cles of both fuel and oxidant is used to calculate the num-
bers of contact points between fuel and oxidant particles,
N
R
, in each case based on 1.00 g of the specied composi-
tion, for the systems listed in Table 1. The results of com-
parison of the values of N
R
obtained and the experimental
burning rates, v, are given for each individual system,
below. (The value of the surface porosity, E
A
, used was
0.35
(1)
and was assumed constant for all compositions of all
the systems examined.)
2. Results
AntimonyaPotassium Permanganate
The SbyKMnO
4
system has been widely used in com-
mercial delays and has been extensively studied
(58)
.
Results for three samples with different average fuel particle-
sizes were available. Table 3 lists the calculated contact
points and experimental burning rates for these three sam-
ples.
For a sample of xed r
Sb
(e.g., sample (1) in Table 3), the
variations of N
R
and of v with composition are shown
(suitably scaled) in Figure 1. The similarity of the two
curves and the close coincidence of their maxima suggest a
dependence of v upon the value of N
R
. Burning fails at a
higher value of N
R
on the fuel-rich side of the curve.
Both N
R
and v increase with decreasing r
Sb
as shown in
Figure 2. The maximum value of N
R
shifts to lower %Sb as
Table 3. Calculated Contact points* (x

) and Experimental Burning Rates (v) for the SbaKMnO

4
System
(58)
KMnO
4
r 13 mm
Sb sample (1) Sb sample (3) Sb sample (4)
r 13 mm r 9 mm r 3 mm
r
fuel
ar
oxidant
1.0 0.69 0.23
%Sb v x

v x

v x

(mms
71
) (10
7
) (mms
71
) (10
7
) (mms
71
) (10
7
)
10 1.6 3.4 50
20 3.1 6.4 86
30 2.0 4.3 2.5 8.8 6.5 105
35 2.5 4.3 8.4
40 5.5 5.3 7.0 10.6 12.5 111
50 10.0 6.0 11.5 11.6 19.0 106
60 11.0 6.3 11.0 11.8 20.5 94
70 9.5 6.1 11.0 10.9 22.5 77
80 5.2 8.8 54
90 3.3 5.3 29
*based on 1.00 g of the specied composition.
Figure 1. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
,
and the experimental burning rate, v, with composition of the
SbaKMnO
4
system.
Table 2. Characteristics of the Fuels and the Oxidants
FUELS Melting
point (

C)
Sample r(g cm
73
) r(mm)
Sb 631 (1) 6.68 13
(2) 14
(3) 9
(4) 3.0
(5) 2.0
Fe 1535 7.86 2.6
Mo 2610 (1) 10.2 32.0
(2) 17.2
(3) 6.9
Mn 1244 (1) 7.2 56.5
(2) 8.4
Si 1410 (1)&(C) 2.33 2.5
(2)&(B) 2.0
(3) 1.7
(4) 1.3
(5)&(A) 1.0
W 3410 19.25 0.40
OXIDANTS Decomposition temperature (

C) r(g cm
73
) r(mm)
KMnO
4
290 exo, 520 endo 2.70 13.0
BaO
2
500 endo 4.96 5.1
SrO
2
390 endo, 525 endo 4.56 1.75
Fe
2
O
3
melts 1565 5.24 0.30
SnO
2
melts 1630 6.95 0.45
Sb
2
O
3
melts 656, sublimes 5.5 1.2
KNO
3
melts 334, d 400 exo 2.11 6.7
K
2
Cr
2
O
7
melts 398, d 500 2.68 3.0
Pb
3
O
4
d 500 9.1 2.5
Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998) FuelOxidant Particle Contact in Binary Pyrotechnic Reactions 321
Figure 2. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
,
and the experimental burning rate v, with fuel particle-size of the 40%
SbaKMnO
4
system.
Table 4. Calculated Contact Points* (x

) and Experimental Burning

Rates (v) for the WaK
2
Cr
2
O
7
System
(912)
W (0.40 mm) K
2
Cr
2
O
7
(3.0 mm)
r
fuel
: r
oxidant
1 : 7.5
%W v x

(mms
71
) (10
9
)
10 74
20 141
30 1.43 184
40 8.0 202
50 14.4 201
60 19.7 183
70 25.2 152
80 18.8 110
85 15.0
90 59
*based on 1.00 g of the specied composition.
Figure 3. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
,
and the experimental burning rate, v, with composition of the
WaK
2
Cr
2
O
7
system.
Figure 4. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
,
and the experimental burning rate, v, with composition of the
SiaPb
3
O
4
system. Si radius: (a) 1.0 mm; (b) 2.0 mm; and (c) 2.5 mm.
322 M. Brown, S. Taylor, and M. Tribelhorn Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998)
r
Sb
decreases (see Table 3), but v
max
remains at high pro-
portions of Sb, suggesting incomplete reaction.
TungstenaPotassium Dichromate
Another extensively studied system is WyK
2
Cr
2
O
7
,
which has been very carefully characterized by Boddington,
Laye and co-workers
(912)
at Leeds University. Values of
N
R
calculated for one of their systems are compared in
Table 4 with reported burning rates.
The variations of N
R
and of v with composition are shown
(suitably scaled) in Figure 3. N
R
values are at a maximum at
40%W, but v
max
occurs at about 70%W. The values cal-
culated for N
R
are approximately 100 times those calculated
for the Sb(4)yKMnO
4
system above, although v
max
values
for the two systems are similar (25 and 21 mms
71
,
respectively).
SiliconaOxidant Systems
Siliconalead oxide systems
Siliconalead oxide systems are of considerable com-
mercial importance for use as short-period delays, i.e. their
burning rates are relatively fast, and they have been
extensively studied. Data published by Al-Kasraji and
Rees
(13)
have been used to calculate values of N
R
for the
SiyPb
3
O
4
system. These values are compared with the
reported burning rates in Table 5.
The variations of N
R
and of v with composition are shown
(suitably scaled) in Figures 4 (a)(c). N
R
values for the
smallest Si particles (A) are at a maximum at very low %Si,
increasing to about 10%Si for the larger particles (B) and
(C), but v
max
occurs at higher proportions of Si (about 15%
(A) to 30% (B) and (C). Values of v
max
and of N
R
are plotted
against particle size in Figure 5.
Siliconaother oxidants
A detailed study has been reported
(1418)
of silicon as the
fuel in binary combination with a variety of oxidants other
than the lead oxides (see above). Values of N
R
calculated
for each of the systems are compared in Table 6 with the
reported burning rates, and illustrated in Figures 6 (a)(d).
Figure 5. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
,
and the maximum experimental burning rate, v
max
, with fuel particle-
size of the SiaPb
3
O
4
system.
Table 5. Calculated Contact Points* (x

) and Experimental Burning Rates (v) for the SiaPb

3
O
4
System
(13,25)
Pb
3
O
4
r 2.5 mm
Si sample (A) Si sample (B) Si sample (C)
r 1.0 mm r 2.0 mm r 2.5 mm
r
fuel
: r
oxidant
1 : 2.5 1 : 1.3 1 : 1
%Si v x

v x

v x

(mms
71
) (10
9
) (mms
71
) (10
9
) (mms
71
) (10
9
)
5 108.9 18.3 46.1 4.3 42.4 2.8
10 222.2 26.6 94.4 7.0 64.6 4.8
15 257.4 30.2 100.6 8.7 71.5 6.1
20 249.9 31.7 108.7 9.8 79.9 6.9
25 138.8 31.8 134.3 10.3 98.7 7.4
30 139.0 31.1 163.0 10.5 114.8 7.7
35 127.1 29.9 116.6 10.4 86.6 7.7
40 114.7 28.4 89.4 10.2 72.3 7.6
45 94.4 26.6 69.2 9.7 53.2 7.3
50 59.3 24.6 38.8 9.2 7.0
55 22.5 8.5 6.5
60 20.2 7.8 6.0
65 17.9 7.0 5.4
70 15.5 6.1 4.7
75 13.0 5.2 4.0
80 10.5 4.2 3.3
85 7.9 3.2 2.5
90 5.3 2.2 1.7
95 2.7 1.1 0.9
*based on 1.00 g of the specied composition.
Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998) FuelOxidant Particle Contact in Binary Pyrotechnic Reactions 323
Table 6. Calculated Contact Points* (x

) and Experimental Burning Rates (v) for Siaoxidant Systems

(1418)
Si sample (3) r
fuel
1.7 mm
SiaSnO
2
SiaFe
2
O
3
SiaSb
2
O
3
SiaKNO
3
r
fuel
ar
oxidant
3.8 5.7 1.4 0.25
%Si v x

v x

v x

v x

(mms
71
) (10
10
) (mms
71
) (10
10
) (mms
71
) (10
10
) (mms
71
) (10
10
)
10 11.6 23.5 2.68 0.704
15 16.9 34.7 3.69 0.907
20 5.25 21.7 2.33 45.5 1.56 4.50 1.03
25 7.54 26.0 3.67 55.8 3.25 5.13 1.10
30 11.6 29.8 3.82 65.6 6.30 5.58 1.65 1.13
35 14.8 33.0 3.60 74.7 8.71 5.89
40 17.1 35.6 4.54 83.1 8.52 6.05 2.78 1.10
45 15.7 37.6 90.5 8.73 6.08
50 12.8 38.8 96.9 7.25 5.98 4.96 0.995
55 9.11 39.2 102 5.78
60 38.7 105 5.46 8.43 0.844
65 37.3 107 5.06
70 35.0 106 4.56 10.7 0.661
75 31.5 102 3.98 17.1 0.560
80 27.0 93.7 3.32 20.6 0.455
85 21.4 80.1 2.58 34.5 0.346
90 14.8 59.8 1.78 0.234
*based on 1.00 g of the specied composition.
Figure 6. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
, and the experimental burning rate, v, with composition of the: (a) SiaSnO
2
system (b) SiaFe
2
O
3
system (c) SiaSb
2
O
3
system (d) SiaKNO
3
system.
324 M. Brown, S. Taylor, and M. Tribelhorn Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998)
MetalaAlkaline-Earth Metal Peroxide Systems
The contact points and burning rates of systems with
either barium or strontium peroxide as the oxidant and
manganese, molybdenum
(1922)
, or iron
(23)
as the fuel are
listed in Table 7, and illustrated in Figures 7 (a)(e). Note
that the curve for the MoySrO
2
system is not illustrated
because only two compositions burned.
3. Conclusions
Dodds
(24)
has discussed porosity and contact points in
multicomponent random sphere packings. The major
assumption made is that each sphere touches its neighbour.
This allows the simplication that, by joining the centres of
the spheres through their contact points, the packing space is
divided up into tetrahedral subunits. The geometries of these
tetrahedra are completely described by the radii of the four
spheres from which they are formed. For an idealized binary
packing of two different size spheres, A and B, there are ve
different tetrahedral subunits: AAAA, AAAB, AABB,
ABBB and BBBB. The model is limited to size ratios of less
than 1 : 6.46, and the packing can be described in terms of
the relative numbers of the different tetrahedra present.
The real pyrotechnic systems, described above, are very
different from this idealized situation. Average radii for fuel
and oxidant particles have been used in the calculations
without allowance for the range of particle-sizes of each.
Particles have also been assumed to be approximately
spherical, which is not very realistic for most of the oxi-
dants considered. It is thus of interest that for many of the
pyrotechnic systems the trends in experimental burning
rates, v, qualitatively parallel the trends in number of
contact points (per 1.00 g of composition). However, as
shown in Table 8 and Figure 8 (where the highest values of
both variables have been omitted to avoid compression of
the data in the neighbourhood of the origin), there is no
direct relationship between burning rate and number of
contact points over all the systems considered. Such a direct
relationship would not be expected since chemical andaor
diffusion factors specic to each system must control
reaction through the contact point.
Several features arise on surveying the systems listed in
Table 2. Most of the oxidants, except Fe
2
O
3
, Sb
2
O
3
and
SnO
2
decompose with some release of O
2
(g) at tempera-
tures (Table 1) often well below the recorded values of
T
max
. Sb
2
O
3
melts and vaporizes, KNO
3
melts and decom-
poses, and K
2
Cr
2
O
7
melts. The melting points of the fuels
(Table 1) are high (excluding Sb). Substitution of SrO
2
for
the apparently chemically similar oxidant, BaO
2
, does not
affect the burning rate of Mnaperoxide compositions (Table
2) as much as it affects the Moaperoxide compositions.
Thus variation of the constituents of the binary mixtures
listed can result in burning rates of from 2 to 115 mms
71
.
This range is also, the maximum variation observed with
change of composition (20 to 70% fuel) of the xed binary
combination (FeaKMnO
4
). The SbaKMnO
4
and SiaKNO
3
systems also show above average ranges of burning rates
with varying composition.
Variation of the particle-size of the fuel in the
SbaKMnO
4
system from a radius of 14 to 2.0 mm changed
the burning rate (Table 5) from 2 to 8 mms
71
compared to
the range of 2 to 28 mms
71
with change in composition
(Table 2). Decreasing the particle-radius of Mo from 17.2 to
6.9 mm produced faster burning Moaperoxide mixtures
(Table 5) than were possible by varying the composition of
the mixtures with the larger Mo particles (Table 2).
Table 7. Calculated Contact points* (x

) and Experimental Burning Rates (v) for MetalaPeroxide Systems

(1923)
Mn r
fuel
8.4 mm Mo r
fuel
17.2 mm Fe r
fuel
2.6 mm
MnaBaO
2
MnaSrO
2
MoaBaO
2
MoaSrO
2
FeaBaO
2
FeaSrO
2
r
fuel
ar
oxidant
1.6 4.8 3.4 9.8 0.51 1.5
%fuel v x

v x

v x

v x

v x

v x

(mms
71
) (10
7
) (mms
71
) (10
7
) (mms
71
) (10
7
) (mms
71
) (10
7
) (mms
71
) 10
8
) (mms
71
) (10
8
)
10 9.76 48.5 2.26 14.0 9.1 26.6
15 6.4 14.3 72.3 3.37 21.0 8.7 12.8 39.0
20 11.7 3.61 4.5 95.8 2.8 4.45 27.9 12.9 16.0 3.6 50.7
25 9.7 3.82 5.1 119 4.1 5.52 34.8 17.1 18.6 6.9 61.6
30 9.5 3.89 6.6 142 4.5 6.56 41.7 35.7 20.6 7.4 71.7
35 7.2 3.87 4.8 164 4.9 7.56 48.5 25.5 22.2 5.9 80.7
40 6.7 3.76 7.5 185 4.7 8.53 2.3 55.3 11.6 23.1 8.3 88.7
45 6.6 3.60 7.1 206 10.1 9.45 2.2 62.0 6.2 23.6 6.5 95.4
50 9.2 3.39 6.8 225 6.0 10.3 68.6 6.7 23.6 6.5 101
55 7.8 3.15 8.3 244 6.2 11.1 75.2 23.1 6.2 104
60 3.3 2.87 10.1 260 6.8 11.8 81.5 22.1 106
65 1.8 2.57 9.5 274 5.5 12.3 87.7 20.7 106
70 2.24 12.0 285 4.8 12.7 93.5 18.8 103
75 1.90 12.3 291 12.9 98.8 16.6 96.9
80 1.54 7.2 289 12.6 103 14.0 87.5
85 1.17 276 11.8 106 11.0 74.1
90 0.79 240 10.0 105 7.7 55.7
*based on 1.00 g of the specied composition.
Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998) FuelOxidant Particle Contact in Binary Pyrotechnic Reactions 325
Figure 7. Variation of the calculated number of contact points, N
R
, and the experimental burning rate, v, with composition of the: (a) FeaBaO
2
system (b) FeaSrO
2
system (c) MnaBaO
2
system (d) MnaSrO
2
system (e) MoaBaO
2
system. Note that the curve for the MoaSrO
2
system is not
illustrated because only two compositions burned.
326 M. Brown, S. Taylor, and M. Tribelhorn Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998)
In spite of the severe approximations made, there is a
qualitative connection between the calculated numbers of
contact points, N
R
, and the measured burning rates, v, of
those pyrotechnic compositions which are presumed to burn
mainly via solid-solid reactions. Further aspects of inter-
particle contact need to be examined, including the effects
of particle-size distribution and the role of inert additives in
decreasing fuelaoxidant contact.
4. References
(1) Y-J. Hao and T. Tanaka, ``Role of the Contact Points between
Particles on the Reactivity of Solids'', Can. J. Chem. Eng. 66,
761766 (1988).
(2) N. Ouchiyama and T. Tanaka, ``Estimation of the Average
Number of Contacts between Randomly Mixed Solid Particles'',
Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam. 19, 338340 (1980).
(3) A. Shimizu and J. Saitou, ``Effect of Contact Points between
Particles on the Reaction Rate in the Fe
2
O
3
-V
2
O
5
System'', Solid
State Ionics 38, 261269 (1990).
(4) Y-J. Hao and T. Tanaka, ``A New Experimental Method to
Specify the Diffusing Component in a Reacting Particulate
Packing'', Can. J. Chem. Eng. 68, 8188 (1990).
(5) M. W. Beck and M. E. Brown, ``Thermal Analysis of Anti-
monyaPotassium Permanganate Pyrotechnic Compositions'',
Thermochim. Acta 65, 197212 (1983).
(6) M. W. Beck and M. E. Brown, ``Thermochemistry and Reaction
Kinetics of the AntimonyaPotassium Permanganate Pyrotechnic
Systems'', Proceedings of the 10th International Pyrotechnic
Seminar, ``Pyrotechnics'', Fraunhofer-Institut, fur Treib- und
Explosivstoffe, 1985, paper 14.
(7) M. W. Beck and M. E. Brown, ``Burning of AntimonyaPotassium
Permanganate Pyrotechnic Compositions in Closed Systems'',
Comb. Flame 65, 263271 (1986).
(8) M. W. Beck and M. E. Brown, ``Modication of the Burning
Rates of Pyrotechnic Compositions'', Comb. Flame 66, 6775
(1986).
(9) T. Boddington, P. G. Laye, J. R. G. Pude, and J. Tipping,
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Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to AECI Explosives Ltd for nancial
support.
(Received April 4, 1997; Ms 23a97)
Table 8. Comparison of Calculated Contact Points* (x

) and
Maximum Experimental Burning Rates (v
max
)
SYSTEM v
max
x

at v
max
(mms
71
) (10
9
per 1.00 g)
Sb(1)aKMnO
4
11.0 0.063
Sb(3)aKMnO
4
11.5 0.116
Sb(4)aKMnO
4
22.5 0.77
FeaBaO
2
35.7 2.06
FeaSrO
2
8.3 8.87
MnaBaO
2
11.7 0.036
MnaSrO
2
12.3 2.91
MoaBaO
2
10.1 0.0945
MoaSrO
2
2.3 0.553
Si(3)aSnO
2
17.1 356
Si(3)aFe
2
O
3
4.54 831
Si(3)aKNO
3
34.5 3.46
Si(3)aSb
2
O
3
8.73 60.8
WaK
2
Cr
2
O
7
25.2 152
Si(A)aPb
3
O
4
257 30.2
Si(B)aPb
3
O
4
163 10.5
Si(C)aPb
3
O
4
115 7.7
Figure 8. Plot of the calculated MAXIMUM number of contact
points, N
R
, against the experimental MAXIMUM burning rates, v
max
,
for the pyrotechnic systems in Table 8. (The highest values of both
variables have been omitted.)
Propellants, Explosives, Pyrotechnics 23, 320327 (1998) FuelOxidant Particle Contact in Binary Pyrotechnic Reactions 327