chemical composition, the results were similar. Fig. 10 presents the calculated heating rates for all three samples. The rates were found to be independent of the chemical composition and strongly dependent on the heating power. For 16kW of power the heating rate before SHS reaction was about 70 C/min. and that for 25 kW, the heating rate was about 170 C/min. The relationship between heating rate is not linear. The power increase from 16 to 20kW (25%) corresponded to a 140% increase of the heating rate.