text: In pyrotechnics, it is used as fuel to make special mixtures, e.g. for production of smokes, in flash compositions, and in percussion caps. Specification for pyrotechnic calcium silicide is MIL-C-324C. In some mixtures it may be substituted with ferrosilicon. Silicon-based fuels are used in some time delay mixtures, e.g. for controlling of explosive bolts, hand grenades, and infrared decoys. Smoke compositions often contain hexachloroethane; during burning they produce silicon tetrachloride, which, like titanium tetrachloride used in smoke-screens, reacts with air moisture and produces dense white fog. Gum arabic is used in some mixtures to inhibit calcium silicide decomposition.