Document Type	Master's Dissertation
Author	Ilunga, Kolela
Email	kolela.ilunga@aelms.com
URN	etd-09222011-094345
Document Title	The effect of Si-Bi2O3 system on the ignition of the AI-CuO thermite
Degree	MSc
Department	Chemical Engineering
Supervisor	Advisor Name Title Prof W W Focke Supervisor
Keywords	thermite pyrotechnics ignition temperature nanoparticles melting temperature tender
Date	2011-09-06
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract 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. © 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. Please cite as follows: Ilunga, K 2011, The effect of Si-Bi2O3 system on the ignition of the AI-CuO thermite, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09222011-094345 / > E11/9/133/gm
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