Thesis (Masters Diploma (Electrical Engineering)--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1988 / The subject of this thesis is the development of ahighly ruggedised, reliable electronic circuit. The circuit is to be used for the initiation of fuze heads and to charge a capacitor for later use in apyrotechnic chain. This circuit and its associated packaging will be called the firing unit. The thesis can be broadly divided into the following facets. I. The definition study, which defines what is needed and proposed means of achieving the customer requirements. 11. The design of the electronic circuitry in the system. Ii!. The design of the packaging containing the electronics. Iv. Adaptation of environmental testing, to verify system design. V. Implementation of environmental testing. Vi. Reliability analysis. Vii. Failure analysis and the determination of the effect of the supposed failure. Actions vto vii were used as inputs to improve 11 and ill, so achieving optimum performance and safety. The whole system was designed with the overriding objective of reliability and safety of personnel and equipment.

The Thesis analyze consumer protection on fireworks market in the Czech republic in relation to harmonization with European Union legislation. First defines fireworks as such, then concentrates on the period before the application of norms of the European Union into czech law and finally on the period after their application.

Fireworks on Independence Day have been identified as a nationwide but short-term source of particulate matter in the U.S. No study has specifically examined their impacts on ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Based on data between 1990 and 2019 in the Air Quality System, we identified 76 unique events that had PAH measurements on both July 4th days and control days (within 15 days before and after July 4th). We compared concentrations and diagnostic ratios of 16 priority PAHs between event and control days using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and multivariable regressions. A local PAH monitoring campaign was conducted at eight sites in Memphis, Tennessee, to obtain a close observation of PAH changes. The national geometric mean (GM) concentrations of summed 16 PAHs (ΣPAHs) were similar between event and control days (48.1 ng/m3 vs. 52.8 ng/m3, p = 0.98). About a quarter of events had elevated PAH concentrations compared with control days. Higher diagnostic ratios were found on event days, suggesting more contributions from fireworks sources. PAHs on July 4th were unlikely to cause acute or chronic health effects. While the local monitoring showed a 15% increase of ΣPAHs on July 4th, the difference was not significant (p = 0.62). Elevated PAH concentrations occurred at sites near fireworks sources and without major traffics, but did not occur at those in remote areas or near major interstate highways. In conclusion, this study finds that Independence Day fireworks have negligible impacts on atmospheric PAHs at the national level, and are unlikely to pose significant health risks. The firework effect is localized within a limited geographic scale, suggesting potential needs for local monitoring and control programs.

Airborne particulate matter (PM) in urban areas is derived from a combination of natural and anthropogenic sources. To identify PM sources and their effects on air quality, we collected PM using active filter samplers over a two-year period in the urban Wasatch Front, northern Utah, an area affected by multiple pollution sources. Filters from active samplers and other PM samples were analyzed for major and trace element concentrations and 87Sr/86Sr ratios. We identified wind-blown mineral dust from dry lake beds, winter inversions, and fireworks as primary PM sources affecting air quality in the Wasatch Front. Dust contributes Al, Be, Ca, Co, Cs, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Rb, Th, U, Y, and REEs which are typical components of carbonate and silicate minerals. Winter inversions entrap As, Cd, Mo, Pb, Sb, Tl, and Zn from brake dust, combustion engine exhaust, and refining processes. Concentrations of common components of fireworks Ba, Cu, K, and Sr greatly increase (>4 times) during holidays. Strontium released from fireworks has a distinct 87Sr/86Sr ratio that dominates the isotopic composition of PM during holidays. Fireworks have 87Sr/86Sr ratios of <0.7080 compared with 0.7100 for Sevier Dry Lake and 0.7150 for Great Salt Lake lakebed. Sources of particulate matter vary seasonally. Dust events dominate the air quality signature during spring and summer while winter inversions occur from November through February. Transport of PM to mountain snowpack negatively affect water quality. This is the first study to describe variations in multiple PM sources and their potential health effects in Utah, USA

[pt] O Réveillon em Copacabana, no Rio de Janeiro, na virada do dia 31/12 para o dia 01/01, ocorre com a queima de 17 a 25 t de fogos de artifícios com duração entre 12 a 17 minutos. Estudos realizados em outros países durante comemorações com queima de fogos mostram um aumento significativo de alguns poluentes no ar. Este estudo avaliou a qualidade do ar em Copacabana durante as comemorações do ano novo de 2015 a 2020, considerando as concentrações do MP10, SO2, CO e O3 amostrados na estação automática. Pelo teste de Shapiro-Wilk, uma distribuição assimétrica no banco de dados foi observada, e através do teste não paramétrico as concentrações diárias entre os dias 31 de dezembro e 01 de janeiro foram testadas. A composição química MP2,5 amostrado na estação semiautomática de Copacabana em 2019, foi realizada através das técnicas analíticas de cromatografia de íons (CI) e espectrometria de massa por plasma acoplado indutivamente (ICP-MS), traduzido do inglês, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Durante o ano de 2019, as concentrações diária e anual do MP(2,5) não ultrapassaram os padrões nacionais de qualidade do ar, mas segundo os padrões recomendados pela OMS, a qualidade do ar esteve inapropriada. As concentrações elementares e iônicas determinadas por ICP-MS e CI indicaram espécies características de fontes veiculares e naturais. Em 01 de janeiro de 2020 a concentração dos íons Cl(-) e Na(+), foi atribuída ao spray marinho, e a ausência dos ânions C2H3COO(-), CH2(COO)2(2-) CHOO(-) e C2O4(2-) foi atribuída à diminuição da circulação urbana. / [en] New Year s Eve in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, at the turn of 12/31 to 01/01, takes place with the burning of 17 to 25 t of fireworks lasting between 12 and 17 minutes. Studies carried out in other countries during celebrations with fireworks show a significant increase in some pollutants in the air. This study evaluated the air quality in Copacabana during the New Year celebrations from 2015 to 2020, considering the concentrations of PM10, SO2, CO and O3 sampled at the automatic station. By the Shapiro-Wilk test, an asymmetry distribution in the database was observed, and through the non-parametric test the daily concentrations between December 31st and January 1st were tested. The chemical composition PM2.5 sampled at the semi-automatic station in Copacabana in 2019 was performed using analytical techniques of ion chromatography (IC) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). During the year 2019 concentrations of PM2.5 not exceeded to national air quality standards, but according to the standards recommended by the WHO, the air quality was inappropriate. The elemental and ionic concentrations determined by ICP-MS and CI indicated species characterized from vehicular and natural sources. On January 1, 2020, the concentration ions of Cl(-)and Na(+) was attributed to marine spray, and the absence of the anions C2H3COO(-), CH2(COO)2(2-) CHOO(-) e C2O4(2-) was attributed to the lowest urban circulation.

Energetic materials (i.e., explosives, propellants, and pyrotechnics) have been used for centuries in a wide variety of applications that include celebratory firework displays, the demolition of ‘immovable’ structures, mining resources from the earth’s crust, launching humans into outer space, and propelling munitions across the battlefield. Many different scientific and engineering domains have found unique value in their characteristic release of significant heat and pressure. While the rate at which energetic materials react is often dependent on the source of initiation, surrounding thermodynamic conditions, and formulation sensitivity, many applications aim for a controlled combustion process to produce large amounts of work output – solid and liquid rocket motors and gun-launched projectiles are a few key examples. Other energetic material systems are often inadvertently exposed to thermal insults, which can result in similar combustion behavior. To accurately model these systems, it is important to have a fundamental understanding of the chemical kinetics that control various aspects of the combustion process (e.g., changes in temperature (T), pressure (P), and species mole fractions (X)). Detailed chemical kinetic models are often used to understand and subsequently predict such behavior. Understanding the gas-phase reaction kinetics of energetic materials is essential when trying to predict critical performance parameters such as flame speeds, temperature and pressure profiles, and heat flux between material phases. These parameters can have significant impact on predictions of system-level performance (e.g., the specific impulse of solid rocket motors, propellant burn rates in projectile systems, and munition responses to thermal insult and extended temperature cycling). While the gas-phase reaction kinetics of energetic material combustion were heavily studied from the late 1970’s to the early 2000’s, research efforts beyond this time frame have primarily focused on condensed-phase chemistry as it is thought to be less understood. Over the past two decades, however, there have been significant advances in our understanding of small molecule reactions that have not yet been accounted for in many energetic material models. One such example are chemically termolecular reactions – a new class of phenomenological reactions that have not yet been considered for inclusion in any energetic material kinetic models. Recent studies have indicated that chemically termolecular reactions, mediated through ephemeral collision complexes, have significant impact on the global kinetics of certain combustion systems. This discovery has since prompted the question of which systems are significantly influenced by chemically termolecular reactions and should therefore account for their presence in gas-phase phenomenological models. Although a select number of systems have already been investigated, such as flame speed and ignition delay predictions in common hydrocarbon combustion scenarios, the influence of chemically termolecular reactions on the kinetics of energetic materials has not yet been explored. As an initial investigation into energetic materials, a case study for RDX was performed, for which abundant computational and experimental data are available. To aid in assessing the impact of chemically termolecular reactions, for which almost no data are available, this study leveraged an automated procedure to identify and estimate rate constants for potential chemically termolecular reactions based exclusively on data available for related reactions. Four detailed kinetics models for RDX were independently screened for potential chemically termolecular reactions. Model predictions including these chemically termolecular reactions revealed that they have significant potential impact on profiles of major species, radicals, and temperatures. T he analysis pinpointed ∼20-40 chemically termolecular reactions, out of the thousands of possibilities, estimated to have the largest impact. These reactions, including many mediated by ephemeral HNO** and NNH** complexes, are therefore worthwhile candidates for more accurate quantification via master equation calculations. More generally, just as the importance of including chemically termolecular reactions in hydrocarbon combustion models is becoming recognized, the present results show compelling evidence for the need for their inclusion in energetic material models as well. The investigation into chemically termolecular reactions yielded a secondary conclusion based on the observed influence of the small molecule C/H/N/O chemistry on overall predictions of energetic material combustion – updating the small molecule chemistry in RDX models produced significant changes to predictions of major species and temperature, suggesting that the development of a comprehensive gas-phase energetic material combustion model would be of great value and have broad utility as a foundational model for a great variety of C/H/N/O energetic materials. To begin developing such a model, all small molecule chemistry in current kinetic models was reviewed with the intent of identifying a sub-model in need of revisions and subsequently addressing its uncertainties using targeted experiments to improve overall predictions. The ammonia sub-model was selected as it is both highly uncertain and highly influential in many energetic material models. Ammonia (NH₃) has garnered substantial attention in recent years due to its importance across many scientific domains – including its potential use as a carbon-free fuel and long-term energy storage option, its use in reducing combustion-generated nitrogen oxide emissions, its role as a decomposition fragment of many energetic materials, and its presence as an important impurity during biofuel and biomass combustion that can affect overall system kinetics, among others. Yet, it is generally recognized that there are still significant gaps in the present understanding of ammonia kinetics -– in both experimental data sets and sub-models within the overall ammonia kinetic mechanism. For example, most experimental studies of ammonia oxidation have used molecular oxygen as the primary or sole oxidizer. While large mole fractions of molecular oxygen are encountered in many combustion scenarios, there are select systems where ammonia is more likely to be oxidized via nitrogen-containing species (e.g. N₂O and NO₂) and, more generally, there are relatively untested reaction sets that would be accentuated in such conditions. To address these gaps in available experimental data needed for the validation of ammonia kinetics models, jet-stirred reactor experiments were performed for mixtures of NH₃/N₂O/N₂ over an intermediate temperature range (850-1180 K). In these experiments, the mole fractions of NH₃, N₂O, and NO were measured using a combination of gas chromatography, chemiluminescence, electrochemical detection, and infrared absorption – where agreement among the different diagnostics (within 3% for N₂O and 7% for NO) ensured high confidence in the experimental measurements. Comparison of the experimental results and model predictions suggested deficiencies in commonly used models for nitrogen kinetics. Various modeling analyses pointed to the central role of the N₂O + NH₂ = N₂H₂ + NO reaction, on which recent kinetic models all rely on the same rate constant estimate that appears to have not been tested in previous validation data sets for NH₃ kinetics. A second set of jet-stirred reactor experiments were performed for mixtures of NH₃/NO₂/O₂/N₂ over a slightly different temperature range (700–1100 K). Agreement among different diagnostics (≤7% for NO₂ and ≤4% for NH₃) and excellent experimental repeatability confirmed high confidence in all species measurements. Measured mole fractions were compared to predictions from five recently developed kinetic models using flux analysis and uncertainty-weighted kinetic sensitivity analysis, both of which pointed to the importance of reactions involving H₂NO that are both influential in this system and highly uncertain. The measurements from the jet-stirred reactor experiments presented here were combined with comprehensive sets of experimental data and high-level theoretical kinetics calculations using the MultiScale Informatics (MSI) approach to unravel the large uncertainties present in current NH3 oxidation kinetic sub-models. Emphasis was placed on NH₃ oxidation via nitrogen-containing species as this chemistry has been shown to accentuate influential reactions (e.g., the NO₂+NH₂ and NH₂+NO reactions) that are known to be important during the combustion of many energetic materials (e.g., AN, ADN, and AP). The resulting MSI model accurately predicted nearly all of the experimental and theoretical target data within estimated or reported uncertainties. Additional predictions of two NH₃/NO₂ validation data sets, which were not included in the MSI framework, demonstrated its ability to accurately extrapolate predictions to untested T/P/X conditions, indicating that the converged MSI model demonstrates truly predictive behavior. The MSI NH₃ oxidation model presented here should be considered for inclusion in many energetic material models as the NH₃/NOₓ kinetic system is known to be important to the combustion of various propellant and explosive formulations. This sub-model will help to form a foundational gas-phase kinetic model relevant to many different energetic materials, including those that contain inorganic additives for increased energy density and blast effects.

Nanoenergetic composite materials have been synthesized by a sol-gel chemical process where the addition of a weak base molecule induces the gelation of a hydrated metal salt solution. A proposed proton scavenging mechanism, where a weak base molecule extracts a proton from the coordination sphere of the hydrated iron (III) complex in the gelation process to form iron (III) oxide/hydroxide, FeIIIxOyHz, has been confirmed for the weak base propylene oxide (PO), a 1,2 epoxide, as well as for the weak bases tetrahydrofuran (THF), a 1,4 epoxide, and pyridine, a heterocyclic nitrogen-containing compound. THF follows a similar mechanism as PO; the epoxide extracts a proton from the coordination sphere of the hydrated iron complex forming a protonated epoxide which then undergoes irreversible ring-opening after reaction with a nucleophile in solution. Pyridine also extracts a proton from the hydrated metal complex, however, the stable six-membered molecule has low associated ring strain and does not endure ring-opening. Fe2O3/Al energetic systems were synthesized from the epoxides PO, trimethylene oxide (TMO) and 3,3 dimethyl oxetane (DMO). Surface area analysis of the synthesized matrices shows a direct correlation between the surface area of the iron (III) oxide matrix and the quantified exothermic heat of reaction of the nano-scaled aluminum-containing energetic material due to the magnitude of the interfacial surface area contact between the iron (III) oxide matrix and the aluminum particles. The Fe2O3(PO)/Al systems possess the highest heat of reaction values due to the oxide interfacial surface area available for contact with the aluminum particles. Also, reactions containing nano-scale aluminum react differently than those containing micron-scale aluminum. RuO2/Al energetic systems behave differently dependent on the atmosphere the sample is heated. Heating the RuO2/Al samples in an inert atmosphere results in the complete reduction of the ruthenium oxide matrix to Ru(0) before reaction with the aluminum particles, resulting in the exothermic formation of RuxAly intermetallics, with the stoichiometry dependent on the initial Ru:Al concentration. However, heating the samples in an oxygen-rich atmosphere results in an exothermic reaction between RuO2 and Al.

192f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-05-14T17:20:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Evanice Lima.pdf: 3922080 bytes, checksum: c7a14dddbd114ecc6a62155e51912b15 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alda Lima da Silva(sivalda@ufba.br) on 2013-06-04T16:41:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Evanice Lima.pdf: 3922080 bytes, checksum: c7a14dddbd114ecc6a62155e51912b15 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-04T16:41:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Evanice Lima.pdf: 3922080 bytes, checksum: c7a14dddbd114ecc6a62155e51912b15 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Este estudo de caráter descritivo tem por objetivo registrar e analisar o léxico empregado pelos trabalhadores na produção artesanal de fogos, em Muniz Ferreira-BA, baseando-se nos pressupostos que norteiam a Dialetologia, a Sociolingüística, a Etnolingüística e a Lexicologia. Para tanto, buscou-se a seleção de doze informantes, de ambos os sexos, naturais de Muniz Ferreira ou residentes nela há, pelo menos, um terço de sua vida, distribuídos nas seguintes faixas etárias: 20 a 35, 36 a 50 e mais de 50 anos. Aplicou-se um questionário contendo perguntas que contemplam as diferentes etapas do processo de fabricação, de acordo com os tipos de fogos, através do qual foram registradas e identificadas as lexias peculiares a esta atividade econômica. A análise léxico-semântica dos itens reunidos em seus respectivos campos léxicos e a observação dos fatores extralingüísticos permitiram verificar de que forma as variáveis sociolingüísticas, os fatores culturais e a estrutura social da comunidade influenciam no léxico em estudo, no que tange à sua constituição e uso. A pesquisa demonstrou que o léxico empregado pelos trabalhadores compõe-se de: formas já consagradas no uso geral da língua; elementos já existentes na língua, cujos significados foram ampliados no processo de reelaboração lexical; e construções neológicas. / Salvador

p. 1-193 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-06-06T18:23:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Evanice Lima.pdf: 3922080 bytes, checksum: c7a14dddbd114ecc6a62155e51912b15 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-06-06T18:52:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Evanice Lima.pdf: 3922080 bytes, checksum: c7a14dddbd114ecc6a62155e51912b15 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-06T18:52:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Evanice Lima.pdf: 3922080 bytes, checksum: c7a14dddbd114ecc6a62155e51912b15 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Este estudo de caráter descritivo tem por objetivo registrar e analisar o léxico empregado pelos trabalhadores na produção artesanal de fogos, em Muniz Ferreira-Ba, baseando-se nos pressupostos que norteiam a Dialetologia, a Sociolinguística, a Etnolinguística e a Lexicologia. Para tanto, buscou-se a seleção de doze informantes , de ambos os sexos , naturais de Muniz Ferreira ou residentes nela há pelo menos , um terço de sua vida, distribuídos nas seguintes faixas etárias: 20 a 35, 36 a 50 e mais de 50 anos.Aplicou-se um questionário contendo perguntas que contemplam as diferentes etapas do processo de fabricação, de acordo com os tipos de fogos, através do qual foram registradas e identificadas as lexias peculiares a esta atividade econômica. A análise léxico-semântica dos itens reunidos em seus respectivos campos léxicos e a observação dos fatores extralinguístico permitiram verificar de que forma as variáveis sociolinguísticas, os fatores culturais e a estrutura social da comunidade influenciam no léxico em estudo, no que tange à sua constituição e uso. A pesquisa demonstrou que o léxico empregado pelos trabalhadores compõe-se de: formas já consagradas no uso geral da língua; elementos já existentes na língua, cujos significados foram ampliados no processo de reelaboração lexical; e construções neológicas. / Salvador

The parties provide the exercising of human relations, because they are forms of collective actions symbolic and materially planed, prepared, constructed and executed. They are delimited by time and space and evoke the enchantment through the spectacle and the condemnation to clamor through their normalization. The parties also confer prestige and produce identity by linking themselves around an object. It is possible for the culture to materialize them because they serve not only for utilitarian purpose. As well they develop ludic and esthetics roles. In this thesis the Saints John s festival event in Estância was analyzed under a socio-anthropologic optic. I turned my attention to festa de fogo (activity that involves the presence of fireworks- busca-pé, espada e barco de fogo). This event has been present in Saint John s celebration for more than one hundred years. To its study I revived the city s stories about Saints John s festival and observed the changes that occurred in its celebration. I turned my attention to the conflicts, permanencies and prohibitions occurred through time. It was elected as the analyze method the ethnography from the public presentations and behind scene facts. One of the most important aspects of festa de fogo is the role of cultural artifact represented by the fireworks. They develop important functions inside the festival because they are the link between the process of formation and demarcation of the party and the city s identity. Moreover, they engross the risk caused by the chabu that are controlled by public politics of incentive to culture and tourism. The fireworks are also involved in the prestige given to the fogueteiro - he is a character who suffers the process of modernization according to the city and party s dynamic. / As festas conferem o exercício das relações humanas, pois são formas de ações coletivas simbólica e materialmente planejadas, preparadas, montadas e executadas. Há a demarcação de tempo e espaço específicos. Despertam o encantamento com o espetáculo e a condenação ao clamor pela sua normatização. As festas conferem prestígios. Elas produzem identidade. Articulam-se em torno de um objeto e possibilitam à cultura sua materialização, não somente para fins utilitários, mas lúdicos e estéticos. Neste trabalho situo a festa sob a perspectiva socioantropológica ao pesquisar os festejos juninos realizados na cidade de Estância-SE. Este trabalho dedica-se especificamente à festa do fogo, atividade que envolve a presença dos fogos de artifício busca-pé, espada e barco de fogo , ritual festivo que há mais de cem anos está presente na estrutura do São João de Estância. Para o estudo da festa do fogo, necessário foi revisitar a história dos festejos juninos da cidade a fim de apreender as mudanças sofridas na sua realização a partir dos conflitos, permanências e proibições ocorridas ao longo do tempo; elegeu-se como método de análise a etnografia da festa, a partir das apresentações públicas e dos bastidores. Um dos aspectos mais importantes da festa do fogo é o papel do artefato cultural, representado pelos fogos de artifício, que no contexto festivo desempenham importantes funções: elo do processo de formação e demarcação identitária entre a festa e a cidade; perigo causado pelo chabu, controlado por políticas públicas de incentivo à cultura e ao turismo; e prestígio dado ao fogueteiro por sua técnica, que sofre o processo de modernização, seguindo a dinâmica da cidade e da festa.