Fire/Arson Investigations : Fire/Arson Investigations
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Re: High Temperature Accelerants (HTA)
Posted by: Gerald Hurst (IP Logged)
Date: May 16, 2010 08:48PM
Most notably magnesium. Also any other metals which forms an oxide with a heat of formation per oxygen atom significantly greater than that of water vapor. The reactions 2Al + 3O2 -> 2Al2O3 and 2Mg +O2 -> 2MgO each generate more than twice the heat of an oxyhydrogen flame on this basis.
Massive aluminum is reluctant to burn in ordinary modest-temperature fires because of the coherent refractory oxide coat, However, the finely divided material is a useful additive for high-blast explosives because of its ability to wring out additional power by reacting with the water vapor produced by conventional molecular explosives or native to water-based slurries.
BTW, burning Magnesium can also rip the oxygen from CO2 and continue to burn in nitrogen to form the nitride. A very strong odor of ammonia at a fire scene may occur as a result of the hydrolysis of the nitride if magnesium was involved.
Massive aluminum is reluctant to burn in ordinary modest-temperature fires because of the coherent refractory oxide coat, However, the finely divided material is a useful additive for high-blast explosives because of its ability to wring out additional power by reacting with the water vapor produced by conventional molecular explosives or native to water-based slurries.
BTW, burning Magnesium can also rip the oxygen from CO2 and continue to burn in nitrogen to form the nitride. A very strong odor of ammonia at a fire scene may occur as a result of the hydrolysis of the nitride if magnesium was involved.
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