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The effect of Si-Bi2O3 system on the ignition of the AI-CuO thermite

The ignition temperature of the aluminium copper oxide (Al-CuO) thermite was measured using differential thermal analysis (DTA) at a scan rate of 50 °C/min in an inert nitrogen atmosphere. Thermite reactions are difficult to start as they require very high temperatures for ignition, e.g. for the Al-CuO thermite comprising micron particles it is ca. 940 °C. It was found that the ignition temperature is significantly reduced when the binary Si-Bi2O3 system is used as sensitiser. Further improvement is achieved when nano-sized particles are used. For the composition CuO + Al + Bi2O3 + Si (65.5:14.5:16:4 wt %), when all components except the aluminium fuel are nano-sized, the observed ignition temperature is reduced to ca. 615 °C and results in a thermal runaway. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/28125
Date22 September 2011
CreatorsIlunga, Kolela
ContributorsProf W W Focke, kolela.ilunga@aelms.com
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDissertation
Rights© 2011, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.

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