Yellow lances

Figure 10.5 Simplified summary of the chemistry involved in yellow lance combustion.

Figure 10.6 Yellow lances forming a 30 metre diameter Rising Sun help to ensure a win for Pains Fireworks at the Montreal Festival, 2007.

Yellow flames for lances may be derived from compositions based on sodium nitrate or sodium oxalate, together with magnesium as fuel and a binder such as linseed oil. 

Other coloured flames follow similar physico-chemical phenomena but operate in different regions of the spectrum. Consequently, the maker of the coloured lance has at his disposal copper salts for blue, strontium salts for red, sodium salts for yellow and barium salts for green, as shown in Table 10.2. 

Figure 10.4 The combustion process in lance (or similar firework) yellow flames.

Davis (1943), pp 63 70—1 lists pyrotechnic compns contg cryolite. Tessier of France introduced it at the time of WWI for the yellow coloring of stars, lances and Bengal lights. Other pyrotechnic uses and several refs are given in Vol 3, p C567-L... 

Yellow amber. Its color, when it burns, is yellow. It is used only for the fire of lances. It is very common in the drug trade. It ought to be ground and passed through a sieve. ... 

Composition for lances. Yellow saltpeter 16 parts, meal powder 16, sulfur 4, amber 4, and colophony 3 parts. Rose saltpeter 16 parts, lampblack 1, meal powder 3. White saltpeter 16 parts, sulfur 8, meal powder 4. Blue saltpeter 16 parts, antimony (sulfide) 8, very fine zinc filings 4. Green saltpeter 16 parts, sulfur 6, verdigris 16, and antimony (sulfide) 6 parts. 

Tessier introduced the use of cryolite (AlNaaF ) for the yellow coloring of stars, lances, and Bengal lights. In his second edition he includes a chapter on the small pyrotechnic pieces which are knonm as Japanese fireworks, giving formulas for them, and another on the picrates, which he studied extensively. The picrates of sodium, potassium, and ammonium crystallize in the anhydrous condition. Those of barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and copper are hygroscopic and contain considerable water of crystallization which makes them unfit for use in pyrotechnic compositions. Lead picrate, with 1 H3O, detonates... 

Gross PA, Lance K, Whitlock RJ, Blume RS. Additive allergy Allergic gastroenteritis due to Yellow dye 6. Ann Intern Med 1989 111 87-8. 

The name "saw" palmetto comes from the sharp-edged fan-shaped leaves. The bladelike serrated edges create nearly impenetrable thickets. The leaves are palmate (fan-shaped) and are divided into 18 to 24 lance-shaped leaflets. The leaves range in color from blue-green to yellow-green to an almost silvery white. The aromatic flowers are an ivory-white color and are found in large clusters. May through July. 

Evergreen woody vine sometimes climbing to about 6 m leaves opposite, lance-shaped to narrowly oval flowers very fragrant, bright yellow, occur in clusters native to southwestern United States also grows in Mexico and Guatemala widely cultivated as an ornamental plant. Parts used are the dried rhizome and roots. 

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