A Comparative Evaluation of Natural and Synthetic Binder Systems and their Influence on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Gallic Acid‐KNO 3 ‐KClO 3 Tertiary Pyrotechnic Mixture

• Published in: Propellants, explosives, pyrotechnics Vol. 46; no. 8; pp. 1248 - 1259
• Main Authors: Pathak, Tribhuvan Kumar, Sharma, Vandana, Singh Jassal, Pyar, Pal Singh, Raj, Johar, Rajni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.08.2021
• ISSN: 0721-3115; 1521-4087
• DOI: 10.1002/prep.202100049

Abstract Tannic acid is a natural binder that was comparatively investigated against four different types of conventional synthetic binders phenol‐formaldehyde resin, carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt, ethylcellulose, and hydroxyethylcellulose which are being used in aerosol forming pyrotechnic formulations for firefighting application. It has been found that the nature of the binder in an amount of 3 % significantly influences the fire suppression performance, thermal and mechanical characteristics of gallic acid‐based aerosol‐forming pyrotechnic mixture. The safety and performance characteristics of these formulations were evaluated by conducting analysis specific to pyrotechnic formulations, i. e., calorimetric analysis, linear solid strand burn rate measurement, TGA/DSC thermal analysis, compression test, moisture content, and fire suppression test. These formulations were designed to discharge fire extinguishing aerosol and it can be inferred from the values obtained from these analyses that tannic acid is a preferred binder to the other four binder systems for the Gallic acid‐KNO 3 ‐KClO 3 pyrotechnic mixture.