28 replies to this topic

[mussie_electric]

Hi all I'm a beginner here having just joined the forum and this being my first post. I've done a little experimentation with modest fountains, (nitrate+sugar and course BP with Al. flakes, and now got boric acid in there too)

My query here is that there is a lot of Magnesium being spoke of here - I recently bought some turnings, seemed like a good idea at the time but now there doesnt seem to be much I can do with this coarse stuff.. any ideas how it can be safely reduced to a usable fountain additive or a star comp?

Cheers

[Frozentech]

Hi all I'm a beginner here having just joined the forum and this being my first post. I've done a little experimentation with modest fountains, (nitrate+sugar and course BP with Al. flakes, and now got boric acid in there too)

My query here is that there is a lot of Magnesium being spoke of here - I recently bought some turnings, seemed like a good idea at the time but now there doesnt seem to be much I can do with this coarse stuff.. any ideas how it can be safely reduced to a usable fountain additive or a star comp?

Cheers

The ball milling of metals ( Mg, Al, Ti and such ) is a common topic here. If you search back on the board you find it popping up all the time. The key word in your question is "safely". The last person that I knew of who milled Magnesium has just about recovered from his burns. Personally, the risks involved exceed the benefit, and it's better to purchase Mg in powder form to begin with.

[adamw]

If you had the patience, you could cut up the Mg turnings into little flakes and use them as coarse granules in star / fountain comps. As for milling it, yes, if you search on the forum there was recently posted an account of a potentially lethal accident resulting from the milling of magnesium.

You could possibly buy a cheap electric coffee mill, run an extension cord down to the bottom of the garden, and give the Mg turnings a few blasts of grinding which would be easier than cutting the turnings up.

[mussie_electric]

Thanks for the input all... I'm probably one to err on the side of caution in most things in life.. how I got into this interest is thus a miracle in itself. The comments on milling are gratefully recieved, I had thought of milling Mg in a very small 1g quantity in a vented enclosure, my ball mill being home made and very small, thus possibly negating the pyrophoric effect of sudden exposure to Oxygen. I shall perhaps reconsider this or do such way outside.

Cutting the stuff up is not a problem, just I got 100g of the stuff and having read some of the posts, I dont feel too happy it sitting around! Perhaps I need to safely allow some of it to marry the oxygen in air, rather than any oxidiser!

Thanks again - and just wanted to say I read these pages for ages before applying to join the forum.. and been graetful to get responses from some names I recognised from my previous browsings!

[mussie_electric]

If you had the patience, you could cut up the Mg turnings into little flakes and use them as coarse granules in star / fountain comps. As for milling it, yes, if you search on the forum there was recently posted an account of a potentially lethal accident resulting from the milling of magnesium.

You could possibly buy a cheap electric coffee mill, run an extension cord down to the bottom of the garden, and give the Mg turnings a few blasts of grinding which would be easier than cutting the turnings up.

I found that post about the Mg fire and the photos too.. scary stuff. Made me think of just cutting the stuff fine, for stars and fountains, as being relatively new to this... given that, would the dichromate coating still be required for larger Mg pieces in the fountains / stars? (say yes and I shall get rid of the stuff!)

[Plays with Fire]

I am a bit confused. S + Mg has no oxsidizer; I would appreciate it if someone could explain why it is so reactive (I know that non-oxygen containing materials can be sensitive, but wouldn't flash require an oxydiser?).
-Plays with Fire

[Stuart]

An oxidising agent doesn't have to be Oxygen. Oxidation is defined as loss of electrons, and reduction is gaining of electrons. Therefore, an oxidising agent is a chemical that takes electrons away from another substance. Oxidisers are reduced themselves (they gain the electrons), and reducers are oxidised (they lose they electrons). Ill explain it with the S + Mg example.

When Sulphur and Magnesium react, you get the compound MgS. The charges on the Magnesium is 2+ and the charge on the Sulphur is 2-. The sulphur has gained electrons (it has been reduced), and the magnesium has lost electrons (it has been oxidised). Therefore, the Sulphur is the Oxidiser in this instance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidizer

http://www.gcsechemistry.com/r7.htm

http://www-jcsu.jesu...ox/chem1_4.html

[Plays with Fire]

The stoichiometric mix doesn?t work too well. A 1:1 mix works quite good.

Please tell me if I am correct:

For the stoichiometric mix to not work as well as the 1:1, that means that the reaction of the remaining Mg + O2 (from atmosphere) initiated by the Mg +S would have to be more energetic than the reation made if the proper amount of the remaining Mg (57% I believe) was replaced with sulfur?

I rewrote that like a billion times and I think it's just as equally understandable as any other thought of mine that I've tried to put into words.

Thanks!

[Plays with Fire]

Oh, also, one more question:

Mg + S = MgS
Wkikipedia says, "[MgS] reacts readily with oxygen to create magnesium sulfate [MgSO4]"
Does that mean that when you ignite Mg + S in air you really end up with MgSO4?
I would think so because the energy/heat from the first reaction (Mg+S=MgS) would be enough to initiate the second reaction (MgS+2O2=MgSO4).

Input please...

[Mumbles]

Honestly, I've never heard of a reaction in anyway similar to that. I think it's probably BS. It is wikipedia afterall. Not exactly the most reputable source.

[Phoenix]

Mgnesium sulphate will probably decompose at that tempreature too. I expect that the combustion products will be a mixture of magnesium suphate, sulphides, oxides, nitrides, sulphur oxides and all sorts of stuff like that. Nothing's as simple as the textbooks suggest.

[firework55]

hi im
new to this site
i was just wondering is sulphur powder or sulphur dangerous and things to avoid with it

[Creepin_pyro]

Sulphur powder itself isn't particularly dangerous. Just whatever you do, don't mix it (or Sulphur compounds) with Chlorates! Doing so creates an unstable, friction sensetive composition. There are different types of Sulphur, and for pyrotechnics you want to find one with low acid content. There are threads here which describe the various types, their availability and uses.

[YT2095]

I am a bit confused. S + Mg has no oxsidizer; I would appreciate it if someone could explain why it is so reactive (I know that non-oxygen containing materials can be sensitive, but wouldn't flash require an oxydiser?).
-Plays with Fire

grab a periodic table and have a look, you`ll see that Sulpher is in the same group (6) as Oxygen.
Mg has 2 Electrons in the outer shell to give away (making it it like Neon) and Oxygen has 6 electrons that will accept another 2 to make it stable like Argon).
a perfect Ionic bond

edited to add: the Nobel gasses, He, Ne, Ar, Kr, etc... all have 8 electrons in the outer shell making it complete.

Edited by YT2095, 03 November 2007 - 07:00 PM.