Hello All,

Yesterday when I was pouring some powdered milk into a bowl to mix up some milk for my cereal, I noticed how finely-divided the particles were--in fact, they were so fine that a small cloud of powdered milk "dust" lingered in the air as if it was smoke. This got me wondering...for scale realism in models of certain sounding rockets that released grenades for determining atmospheric temperature (by measuring the time difference between the flash and the sound's arrival on the ground, knowing the burst altitude), might powdered milk work as a very mild "fuel-air explosive" to simulate such grenade bursts? Also:

Like the very fine grain dust that (when suspended in the air) can cause grain elevators to explode, perhaps powdered milk could react similarly (but much more "gently")? Even if the powdered milk would not ignite and explode (or at least conflagrate) when cast into the open air and hit by the burning particles from the motor's ejection charge, it would create a rapidly-expanding "puff" of particles that would look like an explosion. I've heard that photocopier toner particles in air can also explode (but violently). The powdered milk would have the advantage of being much easier to clean out of its payload tube than toner--the powdered milk residue could simply be brushed out or (if the tube was plastic) washed out using water.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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NAR #54895 SR

NAR Model Rocket Safety Code:


There is no such thing as a "mild" or "gentle" explosive. I suggest using some colored line chalk that is ejected at apogee as a visual simulation of the grenades marking apogee in sounding rockets. Maybe.

__________________
Mid-South Rocket Society

NAR Level 1 - 3/12/11
NAR Level 2 - 4/9/11

As a relative term, yes there is, particularly if the flame front velocity (the rate at which the flame spreads from particle to particle in a dispersed cloud of them) is relatively low.I already know about that (tempera paint powder is another such..."ejectant marker"). My thought regarding the powdered milk was that when it is packed inside the rocket, it would *not* be explosive, only becoming so (*if* the dry milk particles are flammable at all, which I don't know) after being dispersed in the air at altitude.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

REALLY bad idea! Dry milk powder is way more flammable than you can imagine. Check out this clip from Mythbusters:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...p6taNVB1FEley0w

Greg

Heck, after seeing that Mythbusters clip, I want to try it!!!

Wow!

Do it!

Allen

There is probably a warning on the container regarding the flamability of the product. I'm most certain that all powdered coffee creamer products have a warning on them too.

__________________
www.wooshrocketry.org NAR Sec. 558
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unstable by design

Interesting...and the other videos show coffee creamer being utilized in the same way.A very small amount--say, a tenth of a teaspoon of powdered milk or coffee creamer--*would* be interesting to try. Although it is obviously flammable, packets and jars of coffee creamer sit next to electric coffee makers with hot heating elements in countless office lounges and clinic waiting rooms all over the world (and I've never heard of a coffee creamer fire resulting from it), so it can't be anywhere near as dangerous as, say, black powder would be if it was stored in the same places in the same containers.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Yes, the creamer appears to need to be dispersed in air, so enough is spread amongst the air molecules to allow it to ignite sufficiently. Notice in the videos the larger volumes just fell to the ground and were not ignited. Sitting by the coffee maker should be just fine; blow it into the air and try lighting it with something...now, THAT would be fun!

Allen

Indeed, as this Coffee Mate video shows (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXG5...feature=related ). That's what I had in mind--something that would be safe while sitting inside the rocket, but that would simulate a sounding rocket acoustic grenade burst when dispersed in the air and ignited at ejection at or near apogee. It might also be useful for helping booster motors ignite the upper stage motors of gap-staged models, particularly when the upper stage nozzles are small. A pinch of coffee creamer or powdered milk dropped into the top of the booster motor would add more burning particles to those created by the break-through of the booster motor's propellant.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Copier/laser printer toner. It produces a very large black cloud. Adequate protection from ejection particles will insure it won't ignite. Also, mixing with stringline chalk will further reduce the chance of ignition.

__________________
Peter Olivola
(polivola@gmail.com)