Ignition Temperature of Magnesium Powder and Pyrotechnic Composition

Abstract

Using potassium nitrate, strontium nitrate, and potassium perchlorate as the oxidizing agents, the ignition and combustion behaviors of magnesium powders with different specific surface area were studied. The ignition temperature (Te) was extrapolated using a differential thermal analyzer, and the pyrotechnic spontaneous reaction temperature (Ts) was inferred from the temperature curve by inflection point analysis. The results showed that Ts has much better reproducibility than the extrapolated Te in characterizing the ignition of the pyrotechnic formulations. Increasing the specific surface area of the magnesium powder resulted in decreased Ts of the pyrotechnics.