Glow powder in shell

[flashpoint]

Well I saw some of the glow in the dark powder, on United Nuclear...something made me think of using that in a shell...and I found someone else that has thought about this as well (http://www.glowinc.com/pyrotechnics.htm), has anyone managed to use this powder, to achieve this effect? I figured if you used a flash comp in the shell, you wouldn't have to charge the powder, before you shot it...hrmm...

[harry_bosetti]

Im not sure if this would actually work because the glow powder might flare as it is exposed to the flar of the flash charge. Take flower (I'm talking about the white stuff used for baking). When flower is in a powdered state and is thrown over top of a flame, the small flower particles combust. I believe this would probably happen to the glow powder. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

[Tuatara]

This is the new generation doped strontium aluminate powder? Well I wouldn't waste it on a shell if I were you. The stuff is very expensive, and you'd need quite a bit for a decent glow in a cloud. I have samples I scammed from several companies and while the glow is impressive en masse, as in paint, it would be lost if scattered in a cloud.

Its neat stuff to play with though. I made some paint with it, using nail varnish as a binder (polyurethane does not work, its too yellow) and a square 5cm x 5cm produces enough light to read by! Charge time is longer than ZnS powders ( though a camera flash works well), glow is 10x as bright as ZnS, and lasts 10x as long. Colours available from red through to violet, green and blue-green are brightest / last longest. I use the blue-green on fishing lures for night fishing, as that wavelength has the best visibilty underwater.

[flashpoint]

where can I scam some from some companies from? :)

[flashpoint]

So I wonder how I can get a few "samples"....care to share Tuatara?

[vulture]

Someone's demanding answers...again...

[flashpoint]

I was just curious to see where he acquired his samples from...I'm planning on ordering an ounce from United Nuclear to play around with on some of my rockets.

[flashpoint]

Just curious as to where he obtained his powder from, I'm going to end up purchasing some thru United Nuclear I think.

[Tuatara]

Whats with all the double posting flashpoint?

Vulture is right. You want to be careful as some of the other members might become a little annoyed.

Scamming samples is something one learns for one's self. However, I'm feeling generous so I'll give you a hint.

1st stop is Google. Find your targets.
2nd just ask! You'd be surprised how often this works. Don't get mad if it doesn't though.

I'll not post sources. The source would instantly dry up if 1000 people suddenly requested samples. You want the goodies you do the work, just like I did.

@harry_bosetti : Good thought, but strontium aluminate is actually a ceramic capable of withstanding quite high temperatures - may not glow afterwards, but it doesn't burn. A more familiar aluminate is Portland cement, which is largely calcium aluminate.

[flashpoint]

I'm not sure, it doesn't show up, probably since I had newbie status, and I posted again, that's why...sorry if that seemed annoying...I wasn't aware that it was doing that.

[Rhadon]

After posting you are told that your post is being moderated. You should read these messages carefully.

[flashpoint]

I caught it after a few times of posting, it was hard to catch, because it changed so fast...but I finally was able to read it after a few posts...

[Nihilist_666]

Anyway, back on topic. I dont think that glow powder would be of any use.

On UN they say it is highly heat resistant so it is unlikely to ignite. In a BP or FP shell they let out their own light instead of a clean pushing explosion. A HE such as MEKP could be shot safely and ignited with a small amount of BP
You would need to think of some special sort of 3 chamber shell.

________
| Glow P |
|---------|
| MEKP |
|---------|
|_BP____|

Is this glowpowder actually bright enough to be seen after something like that?

[Trinitrotoluene]

This idea seems pretty neat, I recalled ordering 225grams of this glow powder a year ago. I still have a couple ounces, most of it was used to make paints. It must be a very cool effect to see a glowing cloud. The cheapest place where you could order it from is www.extreamglow.com
But it requires light to recharge it, if its been sitting in a salute for a while it would lose its glow.

[Blackhawk]

Perhaps some kind of flare could be insearted in the glow compartment that ignites on ignition of the lift charge, or a glowstick could be initiated and inserted in with the powder as the shell is built, should be fine as long as you use the shell within around 8hours. Otherwise if a camera flash is all that is needed to 'charge' it, a burst charge of flash powder with a very high Al or Mg content could be used to both charge and dispurse it, you would get a bright flash and then a glowing coloured cloud, would look pretty cool.

[Tuatara]

Some more data, which I think suggests this idea is a waste of time.

This is from the LumiNova data sheet.

Absorbtion band : 200 to 450nm, peak at 365nm. Thats deep blue to deep UV wavelengths.

Max recommended temperature is 500C

The pigment is adversely affected by water.

It takes 5 minutes to reach energy saturation in bright sunlight!

Typical brightness is only 300mcd/m^2. By comparison a typical LED is only 50mcd, but thats in an area of just 20mm^2.

So unless you live in the darkest pits of hell, I really don't think you will see much from an aerial dispersion of this stuff.

[chokingvictim78]

Why not just cut up a few of those glowsticks and use that in a shell? You can get all kinds of colors. Use 3 chambered shells. Cut the tops off of the sticks, pour them out into a bowl, and fish out the glass ampules. Pour the liquid into one chamber. Break the ampules and pour the contained liquid into another chamber. Fill the other with whatever you're using to detonate the shell. When it bursts, the two liquids will be dispersed into the air in the form of a big cloud, and react with eachother, forming the desired effect. If it doesn't react fast enough, you could make the shell so that you can break a barrier between the two chambers containing the chems. Although, I have no idea what is in these, they might be toxic/flammable/whatever else that would make this not work.

[vulture]

The mixture in the glowstick won't survive pyrotechnic deployment. It's H2O2, phenol and acetic acid, they will either burn or decompose.

[antimatter]

Sorry for replying so late after the last post, but I'm new and Ive kinda been searching around. This post concerns the phosphorescent from United Nuclear. I've purchased some, and let me tell you, although it may be a little expensive(UN always is), the stuff is amazing, and a little goes a long way too. Just letting anybody know if they were thinking about buying it that they won't be disappointed.