The traditional applications are described by ISO, DIN, British Standards and ASTM International Standards and refer to combustible energy conversions into heat.

FOSSIL FUELS
Producers and users of solid combustible fuels like COAL and OIL use the bomb calorimeter for quality assurance and exploration. The calorimeter has excellent repeatability and accuracy in accordance with ISO, DIN, British Standards and ASTM.

PROPELLANTS
Here the bomb calorimeter is used as a quality assurance tool. The bomb vessel is not charged at all, or charged with an inert gas. A small sample is burned and the energy is displayed.

SAFETY APPLICATIONS
These applications are mainly concerned with the energy of a substance when burned in a domestic or industrial fire. Seat material in cars, paint on furnishings, plastic used in airliners, floor covers etc. Obviously the flashpoint and gas emission are important, but the energy of the substance as well.

HEAT-IGNITABLE EXPLOSIVES (ARMAMENTS)
The development and secrecy in the industry prevents us from publishing details. But if the substance can be ignited by heat, then the DDS range of bomb calorimeters can measure it. Typical applications are igniter caps and charges. The vessel is at present used for quality control. The speed of combustion is not measured.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
These applications are endless. Most refer to methods related to combustible energy. However, the rising cost of traditional energy has resulted in more research. A shroud of mystery surrounds the un-conventional energy research, but we have heard of measuring the energy absorption of leaves during sunshine, measuring the energy contained in production by-products, and measuring the energy in vegetable oils. The calorimeter measures disposable waste in accordance with ASTM D5468-02.

VOLATILE FUEL & OILS
With price of crude oil escalating as it is at present, the energy of calorific value of fuels is becoming more and more critical. The calorific value of fuel determines the amount of energy contained in it - this means that a fuel of high calorific value will give more energy and thus more propulsion to the vehicle than the fuel of lower calorific value. All liquid fuels can be analyzed in a bomb calorimeter unit. The determination is performed in accordance with ASTM D240-02 and D4809-00 standards.

Non-Traditional applications which are applications that are not referred to in any standard publication. The instrument produces repeatable and accurate results with non-conventional samples.

ANIMAL FEED PRODUCTION
It is obvious that digestible energy is not equivalent to combustible energy. However, the bomb calorimeter can be used in a comparative fashion in quality control in animal feed production and optimization of feed consumption. The bomb calorimeter is used in animal feed research, Department of Agriculture, Department of Animal Sciences, Universities and private industry. The aim is to improve the nutritional value of the feed or optimize the nutritional absorption by animals. The bomb calorimeter has proved to be a fast and reliable tool in comparison to wet digestive methods.

PRODUCTION AND USE OF EDIBLE OILS
The digestive calories of vegetable oils are nearly the same as combustible energy. Therefore the bomb calorimeter is ideally suited for incoming control of raw products during oil production. Consequently, any food production, which uses oil in the process can use the calorimeter to measure the oil content of the final product. Since we are all concerned with the daily intake of calories, the instrument is used to control the use of oil during production of potato chips, canned beef and fish.

The following application notes are available for download. Click on the underlined link below. Please contact us should require further information. We would be happy to analyse samples for you, please contact us at linda@dtwebs.com for further details.

Fuel Oils

These application notes focus on burning a fuel oil that does not evaporate at room temperature and does not spontaneously combust at room temperature at a pressure of 3MPa. The calorific value (CV) of most liquid oils can be determined in exactly the same way as solids e.g. coal, i.e. by placing the sample in a pressurized bomb vessel, igniting the sample and measuring the released heat in a controlled environment.

C1.1 Fuel Oil Used in Brick Making - Part 1  - Sample used: Fuel Oil used in Brick Making.

Fuel Oils

These application notes focus on burning a fuel oil that evaporates or spontaneously ignites with increased pressure .

C1.1 Fuel Oil Used in Brick Making - Part 2  -  Sample used: Fuel Oil used in Brick Making.

Ammunition

These application notes focus on a material that generates its own oxygen on combustion. I.e. it does not require oxygen in the atmosphere to sustain combustion.The propellant cannot be ignited in the same manner as coal samples because the oxygen is replaced by nitrogen that prevents the cotton from burning. Consequently the firing wire must be extended so that it can touch the sample and the firing voltage must be increased. The test sample had a very low CV so the mass was increased to 2gram so as obtained a significant temperature rise of the vessel.

C1.2 Ammunition_Munitions Propellants  - Sample used: Munition propellants