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Flare

March 22, 2023

For other uses, see Flare (disambiguation).
"Signal flare" redirects here. For the character, see Signal Flare (Transformers).

A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala,[1][2] bengalo[3] in several european countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications. Flares may be ground pyrotechnics, projectile pyrotechnics, or parachute-suspended to provide maximum illumination time over a large area. Projectile pyrotechnics may be dropped from aircraft, fired from rocket or artillery, or deployed by flare guns or handheld percussive tubes.

Illumination flares being used during military training exercises
Red flares used at a demonstration in Vienna

History

The earliest recorded use of gunpowder for signaling purposes was the 'signal bomb' used by the Chinese Song Dynasty (960–1279) as the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) besieged Yangzhou in 1276.[4] These soft-shelled bombs, timed to explode in midair, were used to send messages to a detachment of troops far in the distance. Another mention of the signal bomb appears in a text dating from 1293 requesting their collection from those still stored in Zhejiang.[4] A signal gun appears in Korea by 1600. The Wu I Thu Phu Thung Chih or Illustrated Military Encyclopedia, written in 1791, depicts a signal gun in an illustration.[5]

Civilian use

 
A conventional flare pistol. This particular model uses 26.5-millimeter (1.04 in) flares (manufactured by Patel Ballistics).

In the civilian world, flares are commonly used as signals, and may be ignited on the ground, fired as an aerial signal from a pistol-like flare gun, or launched from a self-contained tube. Flares are commonly found in marine survival kits.

Maritime distress signal

Red flares, either sent as a rocket or held in the hand, are widely recognized as a maritime distress signal.[6]

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) has standards for visual signals, including both handheld and aerial flares. Handheld flares must burn for at least one minute at an average luminosity of 15,000 candelas, while aerial flares must burn for at least 40 seconds with a 30,000-candela average luminosity.[7] Both should burn in a bright red color. Nations that are members of SOLAS require vessels to carry visual signals on board.

Fusee

 
Three road flares burning

Another type of flare is the fusee, which burns for 5–60 minutes with a bright red light. Fusees are commonly used to indicate obstacles or advise caution on roadways at night; in this usage they are also called highway flares, road flares, or ground flares. They are commonly found in roadside emergency kits.

 
An Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad brakeman uses a fusee to demonstrate a hand signal indicating "stop".

Fusees are also known as railroad flares and are commonly used to perform hand signals in rail transport applications. Since they can be used only once, fusees nowadays are usually intended for emergency use (as opposed to the lanterns typically used during normal operating conditions). However, in the days before train radio communications, fusees were used to keep trains apart in dark territory. A railroad fusee was timed to burn for 10 minutes, and quantities were dropped behind a train to ensure a safe spacing. If a following train encountered a burning fusee, it was not to pass until the fusee burned out. Fusees made specifically for railroad use can be distinguished from highway fusees by a sharp steel spike at one end, used to embed the fusee upright in a wooden railroad tie.

In forestry and firefighting, fusees are sometimes used in wildfire suppression and in the ignition of controlled burns. They ignite at 191 °C (376 °F) and burn as hot as 1,600 °C (2,910 °F).[8] They are especially effective in igniting burnouts or backburns in very dry conditions, but not so effective when fuel conditions are moist. Since controlled burns are often done during relatively high humidity levels (on the grounds that they could not be safely contained during periods of very low humidity), the driptorch is more effective and more often used. Fusees are also commonly carried by wildland firefighters for emergency use, to ignite an escape fire in surrounding fuels in case of being overrun by a fire if no other escape routes are available.

Calcium phosphide is often used in naval flares, as in contact with water it liberates phosphine which self ignites in contact with air; it is often used together with calcium carbide which releases acetylene.

Law enforcement also may use flares (either propped on a biped or laid flat) to signal traffic hazards or that a road is blocked, often as a more visible replacement for traffic cones.[9][10][11] Law enforcement in the United States usually use magnesium-based flares that last from 15–30 minutes.[11]

Military use

Maritime signal flare

In 1859, Martha Coston patented the Coston flare based on early work by her deceased husband Benjamin Franklin Coston.[12] It was used extensively by the US Navy during the Civil War and by the United States Life-Saving Service (the precursor to the US Coast Guard) to signal to other ships and to shore.

Illumination

Further information: Battlefield illumination

In 1922, a "landing flare" was an aerial candle attached to a parachute and used for landing an airplane in the dark. The flare burned for less than four minutes and the candlepower was about 40,000 lumens.[13]

Countermeasure

Main article: Flare (countermeasure)

A special variety of flares is used in military aircraft as a defensive countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles. These flares are usually discharged individually or in salvos by the pilot or automatically by tail-warning devices, and are accompanied by vigorous evasive maneuvering. Since they are intended to deceive infrared missiles, these flares burn at temperatures of thousands of degrees, incandescing in the visible spectrum as well.

Tripflares

Main article: Tripflare

Flares connected to tripwires are used to guard an area against infiltration. The flare begins burning when the tripwire is triggered, providing both alarm and illumination.

Regulation

Under the UN hazard number system, pyrotechnic flares are designated class 1.4 explosives.[14]

Several U.S. states, including California and Massachusetts, have begun regulating levels of potassium perchlorate, which can be unsafe at certain levels in drinking water. Contaminated drinking water can lead to such symptoms as gastric irritation, nausea, vomiting, fever, skin rashes, and even fatal aplastic anemia (a reduction in all types of blood cells).[15]

Chemistry

Flares produce their light through the combustion of a pyrotechnic composition. The ingredients are varied, but often based on strontium nitrate, potassium nitrate, or potassium perchlorate, mixed with a fuel such as charcoal, sulfur, sawdust, aluminium, magnesium, or a suitable polymeric resin.[16] Flares may be colored by the inclusion of pyrotechnic colorants. Calcium flares are used underwater to illuminate submerged objects. *Note- Fusees manufactured in the United States no longer use potassium perchlorate as an oxidizer and do not contain aluminium or magnesium.

Perchlorate flare health issues

Many in-service colored signal flares and spectrally balanced decoy flares contain perchlorate oxidizers. Perchlorate, a type of salt in its solid form, dissolves and moves rapidly in groundwater and surface water. Even in low concentrations in drinking water supplies, perchlorate is known to inhibit the uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland. While there are currently no US federal drinking water standards for perchlorate, some states have established public health goals or action levels, and some are in the process of establishing state maximum contaminant levels. For example, the US Environmental Protection Agency has studied the impacts of perchlorate on the environment as well as drinking water.[17] California has also issued guidance regarding perchlorate use.[18]

US courts have taken action regarding the use of perchlorate in manufacturing pyrotechnic devices such as flares. For example, in 2003, a federal district court in California found that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) applied because perchlorate is ignitable and therefore a “characteristic” hazardous waste.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ https://www.laleggepertutti.it/163642_fumogeni-e-bengala-allo-stadio-quando-e-reato
  2. ^ https://www.eldebate.com/deportes/futbol/20230224/nino-herido-pirotecnia-ultras-sporting-portugal_96333.html
  3. ^ https://www.abendzeitung-muenchen.de/muenchen/stadtviertel/freimann-england-fan-zuendet-bengalo-in-seinem-hotelzimmer-art-820280
  4. ^ a b Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: The Gunpowder Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
  5. ^ Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: The Gunpowder Epic. Cambridge University Press. p. 331. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
  6. ^ "The Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996" (PDF). UK Maritime and Coast Guard Agency. 1996. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  7. ^ "International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code [under the auspices of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea [SOLAS] of 1 November 1974] (London, 4 June 1996) [1998] ATS 31". www.austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  8. ^ The New Generation Fire Shelter (PDF). National Wildfire Coordinating Group. March 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  9. ^ "Emergency Flares For Road & Highway Usage » Traffic Safety Resource Center". Traffic Safety Resource Center. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Police Roadside Safety: Tools to Increase Visibility". National Institute of Justice. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Evaluation of Chemical and Electric Flares" (PDF). Office of Justice Programs. 12 June 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  12. ^ Vare, Ethlie Ann; Ptacek, Greg (2002). Patently female : from AZT to TV dinners : stories of women inventors and their breakthrough ideas. New York: Wiley. p. 23. ISBN 0471023345.
  13. ^ Chisholm, Hugh (1922). The Encyclopædia Britannica: The New Volumes, Constituting, in Combination with the Twenty-nine Volumes of the Eleventh Edition, the Twelfth Edition of that Work, and Also Supplying a New, Distinctive, and Independent Library of Reference Dealing with Events and Developments of the Period 1910 to 1921 Inclusive. Encyclopædia Britannica, Company Limited.
  14. ^ "History of Flares". SiriusSignal.com. Sirius Signal. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  15. ^ Borowicz, Krzysztof; Dion, Megan; Mehta, Jason; Morgan, Glen (18 December 2014). "Disposal of Pyrotechnic Visual Distress Signals" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Mark Spiegl's Road Flare Composition Page". www.spiegl.org. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  17. ^ . EPA. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  18. ^ . Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  19. ^ Jackson, Jim (March 2010). "Pipeline Flash Reactor Technology Selected for Castaic Lake Water Agency Expansion". Journal - American Water Works Association. 102 (3): 33–34. doi:10.1002/j.1551-8833.2010.tb10070.x. ISSN 0003-150X. S2CID 116522917.

Further reading

  • Wallbank, Alister (2001). . Journal of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society. 31 (2): 116–119. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2008.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links

  •   Media related to Flares (pyrotechnics) at Wikimedia Commons

March 22, 2023
flare, other, uses, disambiguation, signal, flare, redirects, here, character, signal, transformers, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, cha. For other uses see Flare disambiguation Signal flare redirects here For the character see Signal Flare Transformers This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Flare news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message A flare also sometimes called a fusee fusee or bengala 1 2 bengalo 3 in several european countries is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion Flares are used for distress signaling illumination or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications Flares may be ground pyrotechnics projectile pyrotechnics or parachute suspended to provide maximum illumination time over a large area Projectile pyrotechnics may be dropped from aircraft fired from rocket or artillery or deployed by flare guns or handheld percussive tubes Illumination flares being used during military training exercises Red flares used at a demonstration in Vienna Contents 1 History 2 Civilian use 2 1 Maritime distress signal 2 2 Fusee 3 Military use 3 1 Maritime signal flare 3 2 Illumination 3 3 Countermeasure 3 4 Tripflares 4 Regulation 5 Chemistry 5 1 Perchlorate flare health issues 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External linksHistory EditThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it February 2021 The earliest recorded use of gunpowder for signaling purposes was the signal bomb used by the Chinese Song Dynasty 960 1279 as the Mongol led Yuan Dynasty 1271 1368 besieged Yangzhou in 1276 4 These soft shelled bombs timed to explode in midair were used to send messages to a detachment of troops far in the distance Another mention of the signal bomb appears in a text dating from 1293 requesting their collection from those still stored in Zhejiang 4 A signal gun appears in Korea by 1600 The Wu I Thu Phu Thung Chih or Illustrated Military Encyclopedia written in 1791 depicts a signal gun in an illustration 5 Civilian use Edit A conventional flare pistol This particular model uses 26 5 millimeter 1 04 in flares manufactured by Patel Ballistics In the civilian world flares are commonly used as signals and may be ignited on the ground fired as an aerial signal from a pistol like flare gun or launched from a self contained tube Flares are commonly found in marine survival kits Maritime distress signal Edit Red flares either sent as a rocket or held in the hand are widely recognized as a maritime distress signal 6 The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea SOLAS has standards for visual signals including both handheld and aerial flares Handheld flares must burn for at least one minute at an average luminosity of 15 000 candelas while aerial flares must burn for at least 40 seconds with a 30 000 candela average luminosity 7 Both should burn in a bright red color Nations that are members of SOLAS require vessels to carry visual signals on board Fusee Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Three road flares burning Another type of flare is the fusee which burns for 5 60 minutes with a bright red light Fusees are commonly used to indicate obstacles or advise caution on roadways at night in this usage they are also called highway flares road flares or ground flares They are commonly found in roadside emergency kits An Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad brakeman uses a fusee to demonstrate a hand signal indicating stop Fusees are also known as railroad flares and are commonly used to perform hand signals in rail transport applications Since they can be used only once fusees nowadays are usually intended for emergency use as opposed to the lanterns typically used during normal operating conditions However in the days before train radio communications fusees were used to keep trains apart in dark territory A railroad fusee was timed to burn for 10 minutes and quantities were dropped behind a train to ensure a safe spacing If a following train encountered a burning fusee it was not to pass until the fusee burned out Fusees made specifically for railroad use can be distinguished from highway fusees by a sharp steel spike at one end used to embed the fusee upright in a wooden railroad tie In forestry and firefighting fusees are sometimes used in wildfire suppression and in the ignition of controlled burns They ignite at 191 C 376 F and burn as hot as 1 600 C 2 910 F 8 They are especially effective in igniting burnouts or backburns in very dry conditions but not so effective when fuel conditions are moist Since controlled burns are often done during relatively high humidity levels on the grounds that they could not be safely contained during periods of very low humidity the driptorch is more effective and more often used Fusees are also commonly carried by wildland firefighters for emergency use to ignite an escape fire in surrounding fuels in case of being overrun by a fire if no other escape routes are available Calcium phosphide is often used in naval flares as in contact with water it liberates phosphine which self ignites in contact with air it is often used together with calcium carbide which releases acetylene Law enforcement also may use flares either propped on a biped or laid flat to signal traffic hazards or that a road is blocked often as a more visible replacement for traffic cones 9 10 11 Law enforcement in the United States usually use magnesium based flares that last from 15 30 minutes 11 Military use EditMaritime signal flare Edit In 1859 Martha Coston patented the Coston flare based on early work by her deceased husband Benjamin Franklin Coston 12 It was used extensively by the US Navy during the Civil War and by the United States Life Saving Service the precursor to the US Coast Guard to signal to other ships and to shore Illumination Edit Further information Battlefield illumination In 1922 a landing flare was an aerial candle attached to a parachute and used for landing an airplane in the dark The flare burned for less than four minutes and the candlepower was about 40 000 lumens 13 Countermeasure Edit Main article Flare countermeasure A special variety of flares is used in military aircraft as a defensive countermeasure against heat seeking missiles These flares are usually discharged individually or in salvos by the pilot or automatically by tail warning devices and are accompanied by vigorous evasive maneuvering Since they are intended to deceive infrared missiles these flares burn at temperatures of thousands of degrees incandescing in the visible spectrum as well Tripflares Edit Main article Tripflare Flares connected to tripwires are used to guard an area against infiltration The flare begins burning when the tripwire is triggered providing both alarm and illumination Regulation EditUnder the UN hazard number system pyrotechnic flares are designated class 1 4 explosives 14 Several U S states including California and Massachusetts have begun regulating levels of potassium perchlorate which can be unsafe at certain levels in drinking water Contaminated drinking water can lead to such symptoms as gastric irritation nausea vomiting fever skin rashes and even fatal aplastic anemia a reduction in all types of blood cells 15 Chemistry EditFlares produce their light through the combustion of a pyrotechnic composition The ingredients are varied but often based on strontium nitrate potassium nitrate or potassium perchlorate mixed with a fuel such as charcoal sulfur sawdust aluminium magnesium or a suitable polymeric resin 16 Flares may be colored by the inclusion of pyrotechnic colorants Calcium flares are used underwater to illuminate submerged objects Note Fusees manufactured in the United States no longer use potassium perchlorate as an oxidizer and do not contain aluminium or magnesium Perchlorate flare health issues Edit Many in service colored signal flares and spectrally balanced decoy flares contain perchlorate oxidizers Perchlorate a type of salt in its solid form dissolves and moves rapidly in groundwater and surface water Even in low concentrations in drinking water supplies perchlorate is known to inhibit the uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland While there are currently no US federal drinking water standards for perchlorate some states have established public health goals or action levels and some are in the process of establishing state maximum contaminant levels For example the US Environmental Protection Agency has studied the impacts of perchlorate on the environment as well as drinking water 17 California has also issued guidance regarding perchlorate use 18 US courts have taken action regarding the use of perchlorate in manufacturing pyrotechnic devices such as flares For example in 2003 a federal district court in California found that the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act CERCLA applied because perchlorate is ignitable and therefore a characteristic hazardous waste 19 See also EditBlue light pyrotechnic signal Early pyrotechnic signal Flare gun Firearm that launches flares Magnesium torch Bright light source made from magnesium which burns underwater Shell projectile Payload carrying projectileReferences Edit https www laleggepertutti it 163642 fumogeni e bengala allo stadio quando e reato https www eldebate com deportes futbol 20230224 nino herido pirotecnia ultras sporting portugal 96333 html https www abendzeitung muenchen de muenchen stadtviertel freimann england fan zuendet bengalo in seinem hotelzimmer art 820280 a b Needham Joseph 1986 Science and Civilisation in China The Gunpowder Epic Cambridge University Press p 169 ISBN 978 0 521 30358 3 Needham Joseph 1986 Science and Civilisation in China The Gunpowder Epic Cambridge University Press p 331 ISBN 978 0 521 30358 3 The Merchant Shipping Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions Regulations 1996 PDF UK Maritime and Coast Guard Agency 1996 Archived PDF from the original on 9 October 2022 Retrieved 23 July 2013 International Life Saving Appliance LSA Code under the auspices of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea SOLAS of 1 November 1974 London 4 June 1996 1998 ATS 31 www austlii edu au Retrieved 6 March 2022 The New Generation Fire Shelter PDF National Wildfire Coordinating Group March 2003 Retrieved 16 January 2009 Emergency Flares For Road amp Highway Usage Traffic Safety Resource Center Traffic Safety Resource Center 17 May 2019 Retrieved 15 June 2021 Police Roadside Safety Tools to Increase Visibility National Institute of Justice Retrieved 15 June 2021 a b Evaluation of Chemical and Electric Flares PDF Office of Justice Programs 12 June 2008 Archived PDF from the original on 9 October 2022 Retrieved 16 June 2021 Vare Ethlie Ann Ptacek Greg 2002 Patently female from AZT to TV dinners stories of women inventors and their breakthrough ideas New York Wiley p 23 ISBN 0471023345 Chisholm Hugh 1922 The Encyclopaedia Britannica The New Volumes Constituting in Combination with the Twenty nine Volumes of the Eleventh Edition the Twelfth Edition of that Work and Also Supplying a New Distinctive and Independent Library of Reference Dealing with Events and Developments of the Period 1910 to 1921 Inclusive Encyclopaedia Britannica Company Limited History of Flares SiriusSignal com Sirius Signal Retrieved 8 June 2015 Borowicz Krzysztof Dion Megan Mehta Jason Morgan Glen 18 December 2014 Disposal of Pyrotechnic Visual Distress Signals PDF United States Coast Guard Archived PDF from the original on 9 October 2022 Mark Spiegl s Road Flare Composition Page www spiegl org Retrieved 6 March 2022 Water Unregulated EPA Archived from the original on 18 February 2015 Retrieved 5 March 2022 Perchlorate in Drinking Water Archived from the original on 27 June 2010 Retrieved 24 June 2010 Jackson Jim March 2010 Pipeline Flash Reactor Technology Selected for Castaic Lake Water Agency Expansion Journal American Water Works Association 102 3 33 34 doi 10 1002 j 1551 8833 2010 tb10070 x ISSN 0003 150X S2CID 116522917 Further reading EditWallbank Alister 2001 Can anybody see me modified reprint from DIVER 2000 45 2 February 72 74 Journal of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society 31 2 116 119 Archived from the original on 16 January 2009 Retrieved 13 October 2008 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint unfit URL link External links Edit Media related to Flares pyrotechnics at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Flare amp oldid 1143671604, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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