Why in News?

• CSIR scientists have developed Less Polluting Firecrackers which are not only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones.

Less Polluting Crackers:

• CSIR scientists has developed Less Polluting Firecrackers which are not only environment friendly but 15-20 % cheaper than the conventional ones
• These crackers have been named as SWAS, SAFAL and STAR.
• It has unique property of releasing water vapour and /or air as dust suppressant and diluent for gaseous emissions and matching performance in sound with conventional crackers.

SWAS (Safe Water Releaser):

• SWAS crackers eliminates usage of (KNO3) Potassium nitrate and Sulphur with consequent reduction in particulate matter (30-35%) SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA. STAR eliminates usage of KNO3 and S with consequent reduction in particulate matter (35-40%), SO2 and NOx. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 105-110 dBA.
• SWAS has been tested for shelf life upto 3 weeks with consistent performance.

SAFAL (Safe Minimal Aluminium):

• SAFAL has minimal usage of aluminium (only in flash powder for initiation) with consequent significant reduction in particulate matter (35-40 %) compared to commercial crackers. It has matching sound intensity with commercial crackers in the range of 110-115 dBA. PESO has been approached to analyse and test SWAS/STAR/SAFAL from point of view of safety, stability and other related issues.
• Also, functional prototypes of flower pots for substitution of BaNO3 (Barium nitrate) by low cost eco-friendly materials have been developed with significant reduction in particulate matter (30-35%).

STAR (Safe Thermite Cracker):

• STAR has the capability to eliminate the usage of KNO3 and S with a consequent reduction in particulate matter (35-40 per cent), SO2 and NOx.

E-Crackers:

• CSIR-CEERI, being an electronics laboratory, is developing safe and pollution free technology of electronic crackers (E-crackers) to meet latent social aspiration of enjoying fireworks.
• It includes various products like E-Ladi, E-Anar, system for E-cracker show etc. At present CSIR-CEERI is ready with the laboratory level prototype of E-Ladi.
• E-Ladi is based on high-voltage electrostatic discharge to generate light/sound effect.
• It is triggered by providing heat to the thermal switch which will give the excitement of firing the conventional cracker.
• The E-Ladi is also programmable to give various light/sound effect.

Working of E-Ladi:

• High voltage generator is capable of producing very high voltage using the concept of tesla coil. These pods are connected in parallel to achieve desired light/sound pattern. The controller block consists of a pulse generator and a solid-state device-based circuit to control the switching of these pods.
• The second version of this prototype will include compact form factor and thermal actuation arrangement.