What causes an explosion?

Asked by: Eric Webb

An explosion is caused by a rapid expansion of gas from a chemical reaction or an incendiary device. Signs of an explosion may be a very loud sound or a series of noises and vibrations, fire, heat, smoke, falling glass or debris.

What does black smoke mean in an explosion?

Black fire is a phrase used to describe smoke that is of high volume, turbulent velocity, ultra-dense and black. Black fire is a sure sign of impending auto-ignition and flashover.

What causes burning black smoke?

The type of fuel and how hot it’s burning. In general, a hotter fire will convert more fuel into elemental carbon, which forms into tiny particles that absorb light and appear in the sky as black smoke. A cooler combustion—or one that doesn’t work as efficiently—yields less-pure forms of carbon.

What does black smoke represent?

Black Smoke: Black exhaust smoke signifies that your automobile is burning too much fuel related to an air filter or fuel injector problem. Black or dark exhaust smoke is more common in diesel engine vehicles.

What do the different colors of smoke mean?

The color of the smoke depends on the material that is burning. Natural materials such as unfinished wood will change to tan or brown colored smoke, whereas plastics and painted surfaces appear to be grey in color. However, black smoke can appear grey when it is mixed with moisture from other heated materials.

Is black smoke toxic?

But “black smoke” fires from sources such as auto salvage yards or tires can have more of that fine particulate and toxic chemicals, including asbestos, aldehydes, acid gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, styrene, metals and dioxins.

What causes purple smoke in a fire?

Fine volcanic aerosols in the stratosphere scatter blue light which, when mixed with ordinary sunset red, produce a purple hue.

What does black smoke vs white smoke mean?

White smoke can often mean material is off-gassing moisture and water vapor, meaning the fire is just starting to consume material. White smoke can also indicate light and flashy fuels such as grass or twigs. Thick, black smoke indicates heavy fuels that are not being fully consumed.

What does a red smoke mean?

The Maximum Smoke Grenade is designed specifically for outdoor use in crowd control situations with a high volume continuous burn that expels its payload in approximately 30-40 seconds through four gas ports located on the top of the canister.

What does pink smoke mean?

A group of women who say they are priests launched pink smoke from a balcony overlooking the square on Wednesday to demand female ordination. Their protest is a play on the smoke signals sent from the Sistine Chapel to indicate whether the cardinals assembled therein have agreed on a new pope.

What does yellow smoke mean?

Some fuels, such as alcohols and cellulose (cotton or paper, for example), contain oxygen and tend to burn cleanly when air diffuses into the flame. Insufficient oxygen can also lead to a yellow flame because unconverted carbon particles glow yellow hot.

What is brown smoke?

C. Tan/brown smoke indicates unfinished wood that is pyrolizing just prior to ignition (e.g., wood framing and trusses).

What does purple smoke mean in military?

Land warfare. A purple smoke grenade being used during a military training exercise Smoke screens are usually used by infantry to conceal their movement in areas of exposure to enemy fire. They can also be used by armoured fighting vehicles, such as tanks, to conceal a withdrawal.