A dark brown powdery powder will collect in the bottom as the ammonia bubbles through the liquid. The chemical compound ammonium nitrate, the nitrate of ammonia with the chemical formula nh4no3, is a white crystalline solid at room temperature and standard pressure. Sales of ammonium nitrate based explosives blasting agents and oxidizers were 2. Explosive reaction of zinc and ammonium nitrate youtube.
Ammonium nitrate explosion an overview sciencedirect. Large stockpiles of the material can be a major fire risk due to their supporting oxidation, and may also detonate, as happened in the texas city disaster of 1947. The reaction of emulsion explosives ammonium nitrate with pyrite was studied using techniques of tgdtgdta. Department of consumer and employment protection, 2008, safe storage of solid ammonium nitrate code of practice. Read chapter 4 rendering explosive materials inert. Ammonite, a form of amatol, is a civil engineering explosive popular in eastern europe and china.
Keep bubbling the ammonia gas through the solution. The extent to which ammonium nitrate should be regarded as a high explosive was for some time a matter of debate. Large stockpiles of the material can be a major fire risk due to their supporting oxidation, and may also detonate, as happened in the texas city disaster of 1947, which led to major changes in the regulations for storage and handling. In an ideal stechiometrically balanced reaction, anfo is composed of. The industrial production of ammonium nitrate entails the acidbase reaction of ammonia. Thats because ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in agricultural fertilizers, is a highly explosive compound, as shown by the massive fireball at a fertilizer plant in the town of west, texas, wednesday april 17. The mixture is affected by humidity because ammonium nitrate is highly hygroscopic. The addition of the carboncontaining methyl group in methylammonium nitrate imparts better explosive properties and helps create a more favorable oxygen balance.
The temperature, pressure, and final concentration of the ammonium nitrate are interdependent. Detonation performance of aluminumammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate based blasting agents are nonideal explosives that is, they release their energy more slowly in a detonation than do conventional high explosives such as tnt. Noncommercially produced forms may be darker in color. Ammonium nitrate explosives for civil applications wiley. A method of producing porous ammonium nitrate particles, wherein nearly monodisperse gas bubbles are injected into molten ammonium nitrate, whereafter the melt is particulated and solidified. The need for nitrate drove the search for fertiliser. The bomb that destroyed the murrah federal office building in olahome city in april 1995 was constructed from ordinary materials. Explosives based on ammonium nitrate can be handled more easily than other explosives because they are. So much for mixtures being less explosive i now know much less about explosives than i did as a student.
Ammonium nitrate fuel oil mixture is commercially available as pale white, gray, yellow, or pink oilcovered prills with a petroleum odor. Determine the standard enthalpy change of the following explosive reaction. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are essential plant nutrients. Tgdscms was also used to analyze samples thermal decomposition process. Based on the authors industry experience of more than thirty years, it provides an unparalleled treatment of one of the commercially most. Ammonium nitrate is relatively stable at room temperature, with insensitivity to the hit, collision or friction. The vessel detonated, causing great destruction and damage throughout the port. Ammonium nitrate decomposes into the gases nitrous oxide and water vapor when heated not an explosive reaction. Tetraamminecopperii nitrate and its effects on ammonium. Following world war two, relative to less costly ammonium nitrate, methylammonium nitrate was largely ignored by explosives. Fire anfo is an acronym for the most popular blasting agents in use today.
Calcium nitrate has the molecular formula of cano 3 2 and the molecular weight of 164. Ammonium nitrate is the chemical that makes these dramatic displays possible. Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound, the nitrate salt of the ammonium cation. The use of the relatively cheap ammonium nitrate and aluminium makes it a replacement for pure tnt. But if it is deposit under high temperature and high pressure circumstance, the ammonium nitrate will explode and release harmful subs. Lest you think, though, that explosions of ammonium nitrate facilities are a. Based on the authors industry experience of more than thirty years, it provides an unparalleled treatment of one of the commercially most important. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer isnt really a dangerous. It is used for blasting rock and in some types of mining. Ammonium nitrate cargo handbook the worlds largest. The book describes the science and technology of formulation and manufacturing of nonnitroglycerine explosives with ammonium nitrate as the main ingredient. Buy products related to ammonium nitrate products and see what customers say about ammonium nitrate products on free delivery possible on eligible purchases. Ammonium nitrate plants produce an aqueous ammonium nitrate solution through the reaction of ammonia and nitric acid in a neutralizer where water is evaporated by the heat of the reaction as follows.
A general theory of explosives is that the detonation of the explosives charge. The photo at right, which is contained in the 1927 book, shows the aftermath. Buy products related to ammonium nitrate fertilizer products and see what customers say about ammonium nitrate fertilizer products on free delivery possible on eligible purchases. The matter was brought to a head when nfpa 490 was first adopted in 1963. Ammonium nitratefuel oil mixtures cameo chemicals noaa. In march 2010 the afghan government banned ammonium nitrate fertilizer so the insurgents have begun to smuggle it into the country. Ammonium nitrate explosives request pdf researchgate.
Calcium nitrate may be prepared by the reaction of nitric acid with calcium carbonate or calcium sulfide. Thats because ammonium nitrate, a chemical commonly used in agricultural fertilizers, is a highly explosive compound, as shown by the massive fireball at a fertilizer plant in the town of west. Alfred nobel subsequently acquired the patent of ohlsson and norrbin for ammonium nitrate and used this in his explosive compositions. Ammonium hydroxide or anhydrous ammonia which is also used to manufacture meth is a starting material for this explosive. The most efficient mixed an explosives using fuels other than fuel oil can exceed tnt equivalency. In addition, slurry and emulsion explosives, which contain mostly ammonium nitrate and a small amount of other oxidizers, have become widely used. Thermal stability and mechanism of decomposition of. From that summary in nature, it also appears that they were at pains to say that there was certainly no ammonium nitrate present at the plant no, that would be dangerous, because ammonium nitrate is explosive, you know, and that there was only the robust and welltested ammonium nitrate. Squirt the mixture into a borehole, and nothing runs out. Approximately 15%20% vv of the ammonium nitrate prepared in this manner is used for explosives and the balance for fertilizer. Safe storage of solid ammonium nitrate code of practice. Nobels name was made in explosives, but what about the chemistry behind them.
Ammonium nitrate explosives for civil applications. In an ideal stoichiometrically balanced reaction, anfo is composed of about 94. Ammonal is an explosive made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminium powder, not to be confused with tammonal which contains trinitrotoluene as well to increase properties such as brisance. The first fertilizergrade ammonium nitrate was a fairly large spherical particle. The energy from injected superheated steam led to the runaway chemical reaction of the sensitized ammonium nitrate solution and resulted in the subsequent explosive detonations. What causes fertilizer explosions ammonium nitrate. Urea nitrate is a fertilizerbased high explosive that has been used in improvised explosive devices in afghanistan, pakistan, iraq, and various other terrorist acts elsewhere in the world, like the 1993 world trade center bombings. More specifically, nonideal explosives exhibit thicker chemical reaction zones, and they contribute a smaller fraction of their total energy to the shock wave. It is commonly used in agriculture as a highnitrogen fertilizer, and it has also been used as an oxidizing agent in explosives, including improvised explosive devices. Generally comprising a 2080 mixture of tnt and ammonium nitrate it is typically used for quarrying or mining. Book your free demo and find out what else mya 4 from radleys can do. Kandahar, afghanistan 749th explosive ordinance disposal eod company and troop c, 110 cav quick reaction force picking up ammonium nitrate. Based on the authors industry experience of more than thirty years, it provides an unparalleled treatment of one of the commercially most important classes of explosives and therefore. That gives you ammonia, of course, in a reaction that absolutely.
Development of ammonium nitrate ammonium nitrate was. Amatol is rare today, except in legacy munitions or unexploded ordnance. In this book, we deal with ammonium nitratefuel oil anfo, slurries, and. A distinction was drawn between fertilizer grade and explosive grade ammonium nitrate, the latter containing some 1% of organic material.
Detonation performance of aluminum ammonium nitrate explosives article pdf available in central european journal of energetic materials 5 january 2008 with 2,804 reads how we measure reads. It has a destructive power similar to betterknown ammonium nitrate explosives, with a velocity of detonation between 11,155 fts 3,400 ms and 15,420 fts. The industrial production of ammonium nitrate entails the acid base reaction of ammonia. Evacuation is recommended if the initial incipient fire, not involving ammonium nitrate, becomes intense. Wo2005108296a1 method for producing porous ammonium. One in a long line of accidents involving the crucial industrial chemical ammonium nitrate, a compound that is widely used both as a fertiliser and as an explosive. Ammonium nitrate is found as a natural mineral in the driest regions of the atacama desert in chile, often as a crust on the ground or in conjunction with other nitrate, chlorate and halide minerals. Slurries, emulsions and ammonium nitrate fuel oils kindle edition by erode g.
But creating an explosion isnt as simple as just having a pile of ammonium nitrate let alone a. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is cheaper and more readily available than other explosive materials making it the weapon of choice for many middle east insurgents. It will accelerate the burning of combustible materials. One method is to place a saturated ammonium chloride solution in an ice bath and connect two carbon or lead rods from a battery placed in the solution to a battery charger. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Evacuate the area in all directions for one 1 mile or more if any amount of ammonium nitrate is involved in a fire. Large stockpiles of the material can be a major fire risk due to their supporting oxidation, and may also. Ammonium nitrate is the nitrate salt of the ammonium cation nh4no3. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading ammonium nitrate explosives for civil applications. The ammonia generator ammonium nitrate lye is described in tacc section of the primary explosive section of this book. Ammonium nitrate explosives for civil applications wiley online. Clever additives have been invented for the fuel oil so that when you add ammonium nitrate to it, the result is a gel. At the start of the 19th century it was realised that nitrogen is one of the limiting elements in agriculture. Evaluation of a chemical plant explosion and lessons learned. When heated, ammonium nitrate decomposes nonexplosively into gases including oxygen. The ammonium nitrate functions as an oxidizer and the aluminium as fuel.
The mechanism of the spontaneous detonation of ammonium nitrate. This is how ammonium nitrate nh4no3 is made hot ammonia and nitric acid are combined in a ferocious. Preparation of methylammonium nitrate sciencemadness. The brussels attackers used ammonium nitrate bombs, two sources tell nbc news.
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