Thread: 56 tonne bomb

Originally Posted by LandyAndy

John,I will have to take your word that ammonium nitrate hasnt been available as a fertilizer since 2005,that was just afterthe end of my sodbusters assistant career.We used to buy "off-spec" amonium nitrate(not suitable for the mines) cheaper than urea was available for.2 roadtrains full late winter every year.
There is no restriction on urea,I think you will find its just as capable of forming an explosive mix.
Andrew

Andy as JDNSW said it has been a restricted product for some years, due to ease to make go bang, though not actually difficult to obtain, especially in the quantities mining use.
Generally very safe on its own, but in ideal situations contaminated with oil fuels, heat, flame or high impact can become volatile very quickly. We would react very quickly if one of the bomb trucks had a brake or tyre fire. Does make you pucker a bit when you see a bomb truck with rear tyres/brakes ablaze.
Cheers
Craig

Some comments about banning transportation etc. AN is fairly safe to transport compared to some of the other stuff transported. Petrol is way more volatile.
The explosive properties of AN were discovered in 1947 when the ship Grandcamp exploded in Texas. Its hold was full of AN bags and it is believed that a cigarette caused the initial fire. The town and port were levelled causing extensive damage up to 10 mile away. There are some good pics of the incident available on the net and I have some on my work hard drive.

Originally Posted by CraigE

Some comments about banning transportation etc. AN is fairly safe to transport compared to some of the other stuff transported. Petrol is way more volatile.
The explosive properties of AN were discovered in 1947 when the ship Grandcamp exploded in Texas. Its hold was full of AN bags and it is believed that a cigarette caused the initial fire. The town and port were levelled causing extensive damage up to 10 mile away. There are some good pics of the incident available on the net and I have some on my work hard drive.

Took an hour or so from memory from when the fire was first noticed until detonation too. Was only a relatively "small" amount of AN too. I used to work in a plant making the stuff and its very stable in its own form, we used to oxy cut in bucket elevators that moved the stuff around the plant. We had around 10,000t or more of the stuff in the storage shed - if that went up it would take out the petrol refinery next door!

Originally Posted by CraigE

.....
The explosive properties of AN were discovered in 1947 when the ship Grandcamp exploded in Texas. ....

Hardly "discovered". The first two AN disasters I can find records of were in munitions plants in the UK and USA in 1916 and 1918, and the first "fertiliser" AN disaster was in 1921 in Poland (then Germany) when workers tried to use explosives to dislodge thirty tonnes of AN that had set solid in two wagons, killing 19. In the same year, at the BASF plant in Germany, the use of explosives to break up an ammonium nitrate/ammonium sulphate mix resulted in about 10% of 4500 tonnes exploding, killing 461 and injuring about 2,000.

So to say the explosive properties were discovered in 1947 is a bit of a stretch.

Nevertheless, AN has long been used and widely distributed as a fertiliser with accidents such as this very rare. Until recent years it was sold in most garden shops and rural suppliers in Australia, and it is a safe bet that a number of this forum's readers have some stashed away in their garden sheds.

John

[COLOR="Navy"]if ammonium nitrate is explosive in its normal form , why is diesel added to it to make ampho?

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

[COLOR="Navy"]if ammonium nitrate is explosive in its normal form , why is diesel added to it to make ampho?

I would imagine the chemical reaction of the diesel with the ammonium nitrate is what sets it off!!! Actually I heard years ago with using it as fertilizer, do not let diesel anywhere near it.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

[COLOR="Navy"]if ammonium nitrate is explosive in its normal form , why is diesel added to it to make ampho?

On its own, it is not an explosive. Needs to have a combustible material with it for an explosion to take place. Combustible material does not necessarily have to be diesel - could be something as innocent as paper - with flame.

When diesel is added, the compound is known as ANFO - Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil.

Makes good lawn fertilizer (without the diesel). I learnt the hard way not to sprinkle too much of it on the lawn. Did it once just before going on a holiday - was like a jungle out there when we got home. Too much of it will actually burn the grass rather than fertilize it.

That explosion in Queensland must have been pretty devastating. Not only did it destroy the bridge on the highway - from the pics I saw on TV last night, it also took out the adjacent railway bridge. Very fortunate that nobody was killed.

Probably a sidestep from the original intention of this thread but Orica on Kooragang Island near Newcastle stores Ammonium Nitrate in large quantities. If it ever went BANG half of Newcastle would go with it.

Orica made the news recently for chemical leaks for which it was heavily fined!!!

Orica fined $750,000 for chemical leaks at Kooragang, Botany | Newcastle Herald