Visual study of explosive particles during fast thermal analysis

A study of visual changes occurred during fast thermal analysis of explosive and non-explosive micrometric particles is presented. The experimental setup is based on a microcalorimeter MEMS device which allows linear temperature rising at high heating rates. The micro thermal analysis at high heating rates of ∼500 °C/s was performed on tens of micrometer size particles while observing and filming the process using a digital camera (Sensicam™) operated at a rate of 45 frames per second. The study also employs image subtraction technique which emphasizes the changes occurred between following images. The measurements and image processing reveal that: 1) the observed visual changes are in accordance with the thermal response; 2) thermogram events are well explained by visual observation, thus the last contributes more dimensions to the measurement.