Bengal lights - the history of occurrence. Why are the lights "bengal"? The origin of the name of sparklers

Sparkler is a manual pyrotechnic
a product consisting of a mixture of substances smeared on a wire, which
when burned, it gives a bright and sparkling white or colored fire.

Bengal
fire was invented by the ancient pyrotechnics of Bengal, part of India,
located along the Bay of Bengal. That's where the name came from
"sparkler". Bengal lights, or Bengal candles, from India
spread throughout the world.

Purchased (factory)
Bengal candles consist of steel wire, which is applied
combustible mixture, and usually give a white fire with branching sparks.

Main
the difference between sparklers and the main part of pyrotechnics is
the ability to use them indoors, at festive
tables. Such products do not emit hazardous to human health
combustion products.

The compositions of sparklers have long been
invented and tested, the reagents are relatively affordable.
I will give you the compositions of sparklers by the author Platov:

Composition No. 1

Barium nitrate…………………………50%
Dextrin………………………………12-14%
Aluminum powder……………….6-8%
Blued steel sawdust……30%

Composition No. 2

Barium nitrate…………………………50%
Dextrin………………………………12-14%
PAM №4………………………………6-8%
Blued iron sawdust……30%

Composition No. 3

Barium nitrate…………………………50%
Dextrin………………………………12-14%
Magnesium powder No. 4………….6-8%
Blued steel sawdust…….30%

(PAM - Aluminum-Magnesium Powder)

How
you see, in all compositions there is no sulfur and salts (sodium, potassium),
due to which the composition does not emit smoke and substances harmful to the body.

At
I unfortunately do not have access to Barium Nitrate (which in most
cases can only be purchased at chemmags), so I will describe to you another
composition and method of making sparklers that can be safely
use on the street, as well as factory products.

My sparkler composition is as follows:

Aluminum powder - 5g
Dextrin - 2g
Cast iron sawdust - 5-6g

The indicated quantity is enough for 6-8 pieces.

Aluminum gunpowder was used in the proportion for pyroware - 50:15:35.
This is the main combustible composition, which will give a bright white fire.
Gunpowder contains sulfur, which will give off smoke when burned, so
Bengal fire on this composition can only be used on fresh
air.
Dextrin
homemade was used, it binds our composition, provides
good fastening it with wire, reduces the burning rate of al.
gunpowder.

Crushed iron filings were also used,
which form flying sparks. They must be average.
grit, not powder!

Instead of cast iron filings, you can also use iron, titanium, steel, possibly aluminum.

From
dishes, we need a small container for mixing the composition and
a tall narrow vessel, a glass flask is best, but you can
use an empty thick marker.

How
practice has shown that the composition can only be mixed in a plastic case
from vitamin “Revit”, in a jar from vitamin “Undevit and Pikovit” composition
becomes very bad and may not ignite at all. in a jar from
vitamin "Hexavit" it is not recommended to mix the composition, as it
may detonate from excessive mechanical stress, and finished
sparklers will fly out of your hands like rockets. I described this
a very important point, because beginners often neglect technique
security! And you need to know every nuance.

And so, everything is simple:
1. Aluminum powder is already ready for you, pour 5g into a container, there
pour 2g of dry dextrin, mix well, then 5-6g
metal filings. Cast iron give the most beautiful, branching yellow
sparks. Aluminum and titanium give white sparks.

2.
First you need to prepare steel (!) Pieces of wire with a length
12-15cm, 1mm thick, and make curved hooks on all of them from one end.
The wire must be steel, not copper or aluminum,
because the high combustion temperature of al. gunpowder can literally
melt and burn.

3. Now pour the composition into a flask and add a little solvent (water or alcohol) to the consistency of condensed milk, mix.

(The composition is then very easily washed off with water from any dishes and from hands.)

4.
At the next stage, we need to wet and coat the wire in liquid
composition (if there is little composition and it is all at the bottom, then just turn over
the flask horizontally so that the composition sticks to the desired piece of wire -
about 8-10cm.)
Shake off excess mass (droplets) into a flask so that they do not drip onto the floor later.

5. There should be 5 layers in total, after the first layer the wire will only thicken a little, this is a primer, so to speak ...
Then we hang it by hooks, dry on a rope, for about 15 minutes.

Cover the flask with a lid for this time so that the water does not evaporate and the composition does not dry out.

This is how it looks after the 3rd layer:

Again hang to dry for 20-30 minutes, at this time you can go about your business.

These are ready-made and dried sparklers after 5 layers of composition:

Not as smooth and beautiful as from the packaging, but we don’t need it, we’re not at the factory.

That's all, such sparklers are easily ignited and burn beautifully:

Attention!
So that there are no questions. I made this composition for the first time and put everything
3 grams of iron filings, so there are so few sparks. Not enough for a second batch.
dextrin. Therefore, do everything as indicated in the proportion, put 6g
sawdust (by volume it will be a very small pile) and you will have
enough sparks, like in real lights.

Burning bengal fire

Bengal lights are an indispensable attribute of the New Year. But why are sparklers so called? What are sparklers made of, what is their composition and how to make them at home? You will find answers to these and other questions in this article.

All sparklers are composed of fuel, an oxidizing agent, metal powder (for sparks), combustible glue and a rod for the entire mass. Most often, the composition of sparklers is as follows:

• aluminum or magnesium powder is used as fuel,
• barium nitrate (barium nitrate) is used as an oxidizing agent,
• as a binder, dextrin or starch is used,
• oxidized iron and steel filings are used to generate sparks,
• metal wire is used as the basis for the combustible mixture.

Why are sparklers so called?

I am sure many of you have wondered why sparklers are called so. Why Bengali? The name comes from the province of Bengal, which is located in India.

In this province, for the first time, a similar composition was used as an alarm. After that, the name Bengal fire went, i.e. fire from Bengal.

How to make sparklers at home

In the book of G.A. Platov "Pyrotechnician. The art of making fireworks ”describes several compositions for the independent manufacture of sparklers. As you can see below, the main components do not change, only the fuel changes:

1. 50% - barium nitrate
2. 30% - steel or iron blued sawdust
3. 13% - dextrin
4. 7% - aluminum powder or magnesium powder or aluminum-magnesium powder (PAM) No. 4.

Barium nitrate can most often be purchased only in specialized chemical stores, so below is the option of making your own sparklers without using barium nitrate.

Attention! The composition for self-made sparklers, which is proposed below, contains sulfur, so their use indoors is prohibited!

To make 15 sparklers you will need:

• 10 g cast iron or steel filings (the color of the sparks depends on the metal)
• 10 g of aluminum powder (50% potassium nitrate, 35% aluminum powder and 15% sulfur must be mixed together and rubbed thoroughly)
• 4 g dextrin (dextrin is obtained from starch by baking it at 200 degrees for 90 minutes, for example in the oven)
• Steel wire with a diameter of 1 mm.

Stages of home production:

1. At the beginning of the manufacture of home sparklers, it is necessary to cut the steel wire into segments of the desired length. On one side of the wire, you need to make a hook (it is needed to hang sparklers for drying).
   

   The use of copper and aluminum wire is prohibited, because the combustion temperature exceeds 1000 degrees and the wire will melt.

2. We mix all the components by adding a little water or alcohol to bring the consistency of the mixture to a more or less thick state (like condensed milk).
3. Dip pieces of steel wire into the resulting mixture and dry for about 15-20 minutes, repeat the procedure 5-6 times.
   

   For these purposes, a test tube is well suited, but if you do not have one, then you can apply the composition to the wire with a brush.

As you can see, making sparklers at home is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance, but it is important to remember the safety rules when using fire indoors and outdoors.

How to light sparklers

Some manufacturers apply a special flammable head (almost like a match head) to the end of a Bengal candle to make it easier to light it.

To quickly light a Bengal fire, it is better to use another, already lit, because. combustion temperature exceeds 1000 degrees.

You should not try to light Bengal candles from a cigarette in your mouth - this can lead to bad consequences.

Each firework is unique in its own way: the firecracker creates a sound effect through a microexplosion, sparkler produces sparks flying in all directions, Roman candles alternately release stars or balls, etc.

Sparklers are the safest and yet very beautiful fireworks, they can be used indoors and even trusted to "hold" school-age children.

Chemical component of Bengal fire.

Bengal fire consists of such components as:

• metal rod;
• potassium or barium nitrate;
• iron, titanium or aluminum powder, giving a spark;
• coal or sulfur;
• connecting element.

Bengal fires are one of the simplest fireworks and have elementary formulas of chemical compositions.

Effect reaction

All the constituent elements of the Bengal fire interact with each other in a chemical reaction, due to which a wonderful effect is created. At the same time, each element has a specific function.

oxidizers, which are the nitrates of various metals, are metal ions and nitrate. They contain oxygen, some of which is used for the reaction. Some oxidizers are explosive.

Restorers They are the fuel that burns oxygen. Sulfur serves as a reducing agent in sparklers. This function can also be performed by charcoal, which forms carbon dioxide in the reaction.

In creating a certain effect, an important role is played by regulators , they slow down or speed up the combustion reaction. The size of the metal powder is used as a regulator. It is known that the smaller the fraction, the faster the reaction occurs and the smaller the sparking will occur.

Binder the element that holds the components of the Bengal fire together is dextrin or shellac soaked in alcohol. The binding elements of the sparkler also serve as retarders of the combustion process.

All these elements in the form of a mixture are formed on a metal wire. After a while, the mixture dries up and the sparkler is ready to give the holiday a special mood.

Depending on the metal, the powder of which is used in sparklers, and the reagents, the flickering sparks acquire a different color.

Metal shavings begin to glow and burn after being exposed to heat from an open fire. A sparkler is ignited from above, which causes the composition to burn. Fire with flying sparks slowly but surely descends, moving along a metal rod.

Bengal fire is one of the safe fireworks, as it does not explode. The composition is fixed only on half of the twig, the other, bare half is designed to be held in hands.

A modern sparkling sparkler contains barium nitrate as an oxidizing agent, aluminum or magnesium powder as a fuel, dextrin or starch as an adhesive, and oxidized iron or steel filings to produce sparks.

Bengal candles consist of pieces of iron wire with a sparkler applied to one of the ends.

The name is derived from the province of India - Bengal - where a similar composition was first used for signaling.

In literature

"Bengal lights" - one of the stories of Nikolai Nosov about the adventures of bosom friends Misha and Kolya.

see also

Write a review on the article "Bengal fire"

Notes

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• Bengal fire // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.

An excerpt characterizing Bengal fire

“Citizens of Moscow!
Your misfortunes are cruel, but his majesty the emperor and the king wants to stop the course of these. Terrible examples have taught you how he punishes disobedience and crime. Strict measures are taken to stop the confusion and restore general safety. The paternal administration, elected from among yourselves, will be your municipality or city government. It will care about you, about your needs, about your benefit. Its members are distinguished by a red ribbon, which will be worn over the shoulder, and the head of the city will have a white belt over it. But, excluding the time of their office, they will only have a red ribbon around their left arm.
The City Police was established in accordance with the former situation, and through its activities a better order exists. The government appointed two general commissars, or chiefs of police, and twenty commissars, or private bailiffs, appointed in all parts of the city. You will recognize them by the white ribbon they will wear around their left arm. Some churches of various denominations are open, and divine services are conducted without hindrance. Your fellow citizens return daily to their dwellings, and orders have been given that they should find help and protection in them, following misfortune. These are the means that the government has used to restore order and alleviate your situation; but in order to achieve this, it is necessary that you join your efforts with him, so that you forget, if possible, your misfortunes that you have undergone, give yourself up to the hope of a not so cruel fate, be sure that an inevitable and shameful death awaits those who dare to your persons and your remaining property, and in the end they did not doubt that they would be preserved, for such is the will of the greatest and most just of all monarchs. Soldiers and residents, whatever nation you are! Restore public trust, the source of the happiness of the state, live like brothers, give mutual help and protection to each other, unite to refute the intentions of evil-minded people, obey the military and civil authorities, and soon your tears will stop flowing.

The roots of the history of the creation of sparklers should be sought in ancient India in the 5th-6th centuries. Historians testify that on the altars, when religious ceremonies were held in temples, a fire of extraordinary brightness flared up and quickly burned out.

The composition of colored fire (green, blue, yellow) became known only at the beginning of the 8th century. They also learned about the ways, thanks to which it became possible to lengthen the burning time of the fire: dry hollow stems of plants were filled with the composition of Bengal fire. The flame of these first Bengal candles was not only bright, but a characteristic crackle was also heard during combustion.

The Eastern Slavs, around the same years, loved to hold "fiery fun", they arranged them using a club moss. This plant also has a second name - lycopodium. Lycopodium is a herbaceous evergreen plant that spreads along the ground, it can even be mistaken for moss. You can get an instant lightning-like flash that does not have smoke if you ignite the dry mature spores of this plant. The flame, when the club is burning, is simply amazing, it is especially beautiful if you look at it at night. To obtain a strong noise, dried birch leaves were added to the composition, turned into a powder mixture. Moss powder has the property of igniting only when it is scattered over a flame in the air. But the fresh composition of sparklers can flare up instantly if any source of flame is brought to it. That is why it is much easier to use.

Bengal lights came to Europe as soon as a trade route opened between India and Europe. The first appearance of Bengal torches was noted precisely in Europe, in the same place (in Valencia) premises were allocated for storing their compositions. The next stage, bringing us closer to the Bengal candles familiar to us, is an invention in the 6th-7th centuries. sparkling fire recipes. The effect could be achieved by adding iron scale or crushed cast iron to the fiery composition of the Bengal fire. Later, magnesium powder was used.

The development of Bengal fire, thus, went in two directions - fiery and sparkling fire. Flame compositions are most often equipped in paper sleeves. And sparkling compositions in several layers are applied to wooden sticks or metal wire.

Professor Petrov, a Russian pyrotechnician, recommended using writing paper in the manufacture of sleeves for fiery Bengal candles, folding it into three turns (in cross section - 20 mm, length - 35 cm). Such candles cannot be held in hands, as they burn out along with the sleeve. However, when they burn, a wonderful “fiery picture” is observed, which gives an even, bright flame. If you attach the finished sleeve to a wooden stick 5-7 cm long, you will get a fiery Bengal candle, which will already be comfortable to hold in your hand.

It is these products that have survived to this day practically unchanged. Such candles are mainly produced in China, Japan, India. Their modern name is triumphant candles. Products can be successfully used even indoors, as they are practically smokeless.