Fireworks produce fewer air pollutants

Fireworks explode during the opening ceremony for Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, Aug 16, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

The fireworks of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, which lit up the sky at the opening ceremony and will do so again at the closing ceremony, used advanced pyrotechnics technology and environmentally friendly materials to produce far less pollutants than traditional fireworks.

Pan Gongpei, chief of fireworks for the Youth Olympic Games and a professor at the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, claimed the improved fireworks reduced the amount of pollutants by 70 to 80 percent.

"We developed a new combinations of chemicals, which produces less fumes," Pan said. "Nanomaterials, rare earth materials, alloys and chip technology were adopted for the YOG fireworks."

He said the university formed China's first fireworks department as early as 1953. Experts from the department have worked for the Nanjing YOG and the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Pan said he remembers the acrid smell of a stadium during a big national sports event in previous years.

"It was suffocating and the smoke was everywhere. All I wanted at the time was to flee the stadium as soon as possible. In recent years, China's experts in fireworks have developed many economical materials, which are very safe and can meet the country's environmental regulations."

The university team cooperated with computer technicians to control the height of the ignited fireworks and how long they would last.

Due to time limitations, the fireworks lasted for a short period during the opening ceremony. At the closing ceremony, the fireworks will go on for 30 minutes. Viewers should expect to see new kinds of fireworks with various colors and patterns.

cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn