REPORTS
I/EC
nitrate, ammonium picrate, milk, sugar, dextrin, copper arsenite, powdered magnesium and alumi num, and charcoal. Actual com position of commercial fireworks generally consists of three classes of chemicals : oxidizers to furnish the oxygen for burning, fuels such as charcoal and sulfur, and modifiers to control the burning and give special effects. The trick of getting special effects is divided between the chemical formula and the manner in which the finished chemical product is packed in the shell case. A star made to produce an elaborate effect in the air will do nothing but burn to a cinder on the ground, but made right and packed right in a shell case, it will produce an effect that will long be remembered when shot to 1000 feet. Whenever a manufacturing opera tion involves the handling of an oxidizer and a fuel, potential dangers exist, and making fireworks is no exception. After all the ingredients of a "shot," are powdered and mixed, the mixture is rammed into a casing. Soft metal must be used to minimize the danger of explosion from sparks. The charge is then painted with a slurry of gunpowder mixed with dextrin, water, and alcohol. When this dries, it leaves an easily ignitable layer. Fuses are made by winding cotton around a column of finely divided black powder. Burning rate is about 1 inch every 3 seconds. Buildings in which fireworks are made should be constructed so as to offer as little resistance to confinement as possible, in the event of an explosion. How ever, the best preventive for an accidental explosion is to know what you're doing. The fireworks business is hardly a booming one. As one manufac turer recently said, "the business is fizzling like a soggy skyrocket." The decline of the fireworks business may be attributed to two major factors : increasingly restrictive laws against fireworks and reduced budgets of county fairs. But while the business isn't a growing one, you'll have to look far and wide before you find another that has as much chemical magic in it. {Continued on page 38 A)
FOR HOT CORROSIVES: ACE TEMPRON
Heat-resistant nitrile hard rubber pipe handles inorganics at 250-275 dcg. F. . . also resists wide range of organic chemicals at room temperature. Sizes 1" lo 8", Bulletin 96-A.
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c < en*** 0 ond Ρ,\o** ,tof*V cen' TO bbet doV tocA* \o CotnP^· b7 Ge* χα ^ β Λ β an W»
Jabsco neoprene-impeller pump made of ACE hard rubber outlasts, out-pumps anything in its pressure, size and price class. Capacity from 15 gpm. at 22 ft. head to 5 gpm. at 72 ft. head. Bulletin 97-A.
SENSITIVE, BUT KEEPS YOUR HEAD
TOUGH ACE-ITE PLASTIC PIPE
ACE Darting Swing Check Valve . . .
General-purpose moderately priced rub ber-plastic pipe handles most common chemicals to 170 deg. F. . . . except few strong acids and organic solvents. Tough, odorless, tasteless. Rigid pipe Vu" to 6". Bulletin 80.
lined with ACE hard rubber for the best in corrosion resistance. Large, straightthrough flow areas. Sensitive to slight pressure differential. Non-slamming. Sizes 2" to 24". Bulletin CE-52.
ACE processing equipment of rubber and plastics φ
AMERICAN HARD RUBBER COMPANY A c e A v e n u e · Butler, N e w Jersey DIVISION OF AMERACE CORPORATION VOL. 49, NO. 12
·
DECEMBER 1957
37 A
