Abstract
Possible environmental effects of flash powder mixture combustion containing aluminium and boron along with other ingredients like potassium nitrate and sulphur are reported. Once the firecrackers are lighted, they burst out particulate matter and harmful gases with scintillating effect. These particulate matters and the harmful gases together make the environment fogged and get deposited on all surfaces. Recent research suggests replacing aluminium with boron to implement safety during manufacturing and to enhance performance. But the effects of the combustion residue have to be checked and compared before implementation. Hence, in this work, the possible effects of the firework mixtures particularly flash powder mixtures containing aluminium are monitored and compared with the effects of boron blended flash powder mixtures. Based on the smoke settling test, plant growth test and soil test, it is concluded that up to 12.5% of boron can be added in flash powder mixture to prevent pollution of the environment. The threshold quantity of residue without affecting the soil quality for 100 % usage of boron was found as 10 g of residue in 2 kg of soil.
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Funding
The authors thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India for sanctioning the Project (File No. EMR/2016/001715) as well as the Management and the Principal of Mepco Schlenk Engineering College for motivating and providing support to conduct this research work.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Dr. Azhagurajan gave the idea of this research work. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Dr. Azhagurajan and Prakash. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Prakash. Dr. Jeyasubramanian helped the work with his ideas and made a critical editing and reviewing of the whole manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Arumugasamy, A., Lakshmana Pandian, P. & Kadarkaraithangam, J. Assessment of pollution by the combustion residue and smoke of boron blended flash powder. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 58104–58112 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14764-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14764-y