Month:April 2007

B. J. and K. L. Kosanke ABSTRACT: There may be many times when a firework manufacturer will want to adjust the burn rate of pyrotechnic compositions. Sometimes this may be for matters of esthetics and other times for safety. For example, all of the following are unacceptable: • Strobe stars that flash with so low …
Continue reading Control of Pyrotechnic Burn Rate

K. L. Kosanke and L. Weinman An earlier article[1] that appeared a little over a year ago discussed one type of mortar bursting explosion. The article described a process whereby a sufficiently powerful explosion occurring internally near the muzzle of a high density polyethylene (HDPE) mortar would not only burst the top of the mortar, …
Continue reading The Effect on Mortars of Explosions within Them

K. L. and B. J. Kosanke At a recent meeting of the National Fire Protection Association's Technical Committee on Pyrotechnics, there was a proposal to increase the site size requirement for public fireworks displays from the current 70 feet (21 m) to 100 feet (30.5 m) radius per the largest shell size in inches. It …
Continue reading Fireworks Displays: When Is Safe, Safe Enough?

K. L. and B. J. Kosanke This article is the second report on a series of tests to more definitively establish the difference between the causes of so-called flowerpots and muzzle breaks. A previous article[1] reported on a similar study using 2-1/4 inch (57-mm) plastic aerial shells (formerly classed as consumer fireworks). The current article …
Continue reading The Effect of Intentionally Caused Fire Leaks into 3-Inch Display Firework Aerial Shells

K. L. and B. J. Kosanke While working on the 2006 edition of NFPA- 1123 Code for Fireworks Display, the Technical Committee on Pyrotechnics of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) received a request for a “Formal Interpretation” regarding the 2000 edition of the code. In effect, a request for a Formal Interpretation is a …
Continue reading When Is Wind Speed Excessive for the Safe Display of Fireworks

K. L. and B. J. Kosanke As is sometimes the case when doing research: A) one occasionally discovers something which was not being sought; B) the thing discovered then seems intuitively obvious and one is amazed (and a little embarrassed) not to have figured it out long ago; C) the thing discovered helps to answer …
Continue reading Muzzle Breaks That Appear To Be Flowerpotsd

K. L. Kosanke and L. Weinman Introduction: In a recently published article on the regulatory definitions of firework flash powder[1] it was concluded that none of those definitions provided sufficient information to objectively establish whether or not a pyrotechnic composition is a flash powder. That is to say, those definitions are all subjective to the …
Continue reading From a Technical Standpoint, What is Flash Powder?

K. L. and B. J. Kosanke Display operators need to be aware of the potential for some tiger tail comets to produce extremely dangerous fallout. The problem was discovered only recently and was then investigated by the authors on a visit to the display company’s facility. The shells in question are 4- and 5-inch (100- …
Continue reading Product Warning !!!