Barium Sulfate as Green Oxidizer in Binary Pyrotechnic Delay System: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT Pyrotechnic delays are used to provide a time interval between two successive explosive events. The burning performance of delay compositions is evaluated by inverse burn rate (IBR s/cm). At present, several pyrotechnic delay compositions consist of oxidizer, which are toxic. This paper reports a less toxic, green delay composition with a higher IBR value, which provides more delay time. The stoichiometry's effect on density, heat of combustion, particle size and crystallite size of composition, and the effect of all these parameters on IBR and delay time have been studied. Results revealed that (B/BaCrO 4 /NC) composition supported combustion and smooth burning propagation in the range of 3%–10% of boron, with an IBR ranging from 0.22–1.59 s/cm. The (B/BaSO 4 /NC) composition supported combustion with smooth burning propagation in the range of 10%–40% of boron with an inverse burn rate ranging from 0.84–2.04 s/cm. The use of green oxidizer barium sulfate as a replacement for barium chromate in (B/BaCrO 4 /NC) binary delay system significantly increases the IBR and produces more delay time in the same column length hardware.