Ammonium Nitrate Compounds. Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula NH4 NO3, and it's made by combining ammonia with nitric acid. When combined with fuel oils, ammonium nitrate creates a potent explosive widely used by the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups like the Taliban for improvised explosives. Explosives. Ammonium nitrate has the chemical formula NH₄NO₃. Over the past 100 years, there have been several disasters involving the chemical. Ammonium nitrate is a colourless crystalline substance (melting point 169.6 °C [337.3 °F]). Kauffman said, in principle, ammonium nitrate should be highly explosive by itself, but it is not. The … Produced as small porous pellets, or “prills”, it’s one of the world’s most widely used fertilisers. In some ways, ammonium nitrate is the perfect explosive. When heated it is only too happy to give them up. Fireworks contain perchlorate, as does rocket fuel … Ammonium nitrate is the fertilizer compound that can be used in explosives, said John Goodpaster, who researches explosives at Indiana at University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Ammonium nitrate has been used for centuries in warfare, but is also a mainstay of commercial nitrogenous fertilizers. Chinese authorities claimed the first explosion had been triggered after the heat of summer caused a highly flammable compound called nitrocellulose to spontaneously catch fire. Industrial Grade Ammonium Nitrate The explosion killed at … By itself, ammonium nitrate is not regarded as particularly volatile or dangerous, but under certain conditions it can be deadly. There, the detonation of a 2,300 tonne stockpile of ammonium nitrate created one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions in history. When ammonium nitrate is mixed with fuel oil an extreme exothermic reaction takes place. While ammonium nitrate can in fact put out a fire, if the chemical itself is contaminated, for example with oil, it becomes highly explosive. Ammonium nitrate is some pretty nasty stuff, and can seriously land yourself in danger’s path if you don’t know what you’re doing, so if you have to leave a comment below asking how rations, parts, and percentages work…do not try to make this stuff. It has a role as a fertilizer, an explosive and an oxidizing agent. However, if it is contaminated with impurities, the risk of it detonating increases. The explosive force occurs when solid ammonium nitrate decomposes very rapidly into two gases, nitrous oxide and water vapor. It is most commonly used … Once a reaction is sparked (by some other means) the ammonium nitrate quickly decomposes into… Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a red, bad-smelling gas. As ammonium nitrate is a highly explosive chemical, many countries strictly regulate its use. On explosion, ammonium nitrate yields N 2, O 2, and water as the by-products. Ammonium nitrate is unstable and explodes violently if it comes into contact with an open flame or another ignition source. Although ammonium nitrate is an important fertilizer because of its high nitrogen content, its explosive hazards limits its application, and it has even been banned in some areas. Nitrogen in itself is very unreactive, demonstrated in the composition of our atmosphere, which is 78 percent made up of the gas. A mixture of 94% porous pellets of ammonium nitrate acts as an oxidizing agent when added to fuel oil (6% of the total volume) and can be used to create a basic but deadly explosive. The colossal explosion in Lebanon’s capital this week was apparently caused when more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated. When combined with fuel oils, ammonium nitrate creates a potent explosive widely used by the construction industry, but also by insurgent groups like the Taliban for … Ammonium Nitrate Regulations in India “I think that’s what’s happened here,” said da Silva. The explosive nature of ammonium nitrate is due to its decomposition into gaseous products (nitrogen, H 2 O vapor, and oxygen) and also due to the exothermic nature of the reaction. It is highly soluble in water; heating of the water solution decomposes the salt to nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Ammonium nitrate, a white chemical substance that often comes in the form of small crystal balls and is used as fertilizer as well as for bomb making, was … It's a white solid made up entirely of gases. Storing and handling ammonium nitrate. It must be mixed with other primary explosives to form an explosive mixture. How explosive is ammonium nitrate? On the basis of Application, the Global Ammonium Nitrate (CAS 6484-52-2) market is segmented into: Military Grade Ammonium Nitrate. This … If mixed with ingredients like fuel or some other contaminants, or because of some other external factors, it can be very explosive. It is also a key component of ANFO, (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil), an industrial explosive used in mining, quarrying, and civil construction and accounting for 80% of all the industrial explosives used in US. Pure ammonium nitrate is not an explosive on its own. In its pure form, ammonium nitrate isn’t usually explosive – in fact, it’s safe to handle. Nearby stores of … Ammonium nitrate is an oxidiser on its own and is therefore not explosive. It contains no carbon - only nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen. In fact, in its base state, ammonium nitrate can put out a fire. But the chemical has a more nefarious use -- as an explosive… A component of fertilizer, ammonium nitrate is potentially explosive. This report segments the global Ammonium Nitrate (CAS 6484-52-2) market on the basis of types is: Fertilizers. The decomposition reaction can be summarized as “Ammonium nitrate is the ammonium salt of nitric acid. Chemical Agents. It is classified as an oxidiser (Grade 5.1) under the United Nations classification of dangerous goods. Ammonium nitrate was also involved in that explosion. Lebanese officials say ammonium nitrate, a substance used as fertilizer in agriculture, likely caused the massive explosion in Beirut. Ammonium nitrate is used as an oxidizing agent in explosives. Because solid ammonium nitrate can undergo explosive decomposition when heated in a confined space, government regulations have been imposed on its shipment and storage. HSE’s leaflet INDG230 Storing and handling ammonium nitrate provides information relating to the general duties imposed on employers by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 with regard to the safe storage and handling of ammonium nitrate at, for example, harbours, merchant stores and manufacturers’ premises. Solution for Ammonium nitrate is an explosive and a fertilizer. Others. An ammonium nitrate explosion produces massive amounts of nitrogen oxides. Despite being a major component of many explosives, ammonium nitrate does not act as an explosive by itself. Here lies yet another link to explosives: fireworks, which set off the ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut. Ammonium nitrate provides both, intimately associated in each molecule. Ammonium nitrate was involved in the 1947 Texas City disaster, one of the largest industrial explosions in history.. 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