ammonium nitrate

The chemical compound ammonium nitrate, the nitrate of ammonia with chemical formula NH4NO3, is commonly used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer. Ammonium nitrate - Use in explosives. Ammonium nitrate has found many uses as a strong oxidizer, primarily as a component of explosives. In this case, it is mixed with a hydrocarbon, usually Diesel fuel (oil) or, less commonly, kerosene. Because of the ready availability in bulk of the raw materials, ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) ...

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Ammonium nitrate - Use in explosives Ammonium nitrate - Disasters
Ammonium nitrate - Historically significant accidental explosions
Ammonium nitrate - Other uses Ammonium nitrate - History Ammonium nitrate - Production

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Ammonium nitrate, Ammonium nitrate - Use in explosives, Ammonium nitrate - Disasters, Ammonium nitrate - Historically significant accidental explosions, Ammonium nitrate - Other uses, Ammonium nitrate - History, Ammonium nitrate - Production

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The most common use of ammonium nitrate is in fertilizers. Ammonium nitrate is also used in instant cold packs. In this use, ammonium nitrate is mixed with water in an endothermic reaction, which absorbs 26.2 kilojoules of heat per mole of reactant. Due to its low temperature, non-toxic decomposition products, it finds use in gas generator applications such as airbags. Ammonium nitrate is also used in the treatment of titanium ores. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is also used in the synthesis of methamphetamine. Ammonium nitrate is used in survival kits mixed with zinc dust and ammonium chlorid ...

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Ammonium nitrate, Ammonium nitrate - Use in explosives, Ammonium nitrate - Disasters, Ammonium nitrate - Historically significant accidental explosions, Ammonium nitrate - Other uses, Ammonium nitrate - History, Ammonium nitrate - Production

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Ammonium nitrate has found many uses as a strong oxidizer, primarily as a component of explosives. In this case, it is mixed with a hydrocarbon, usually Diesel fuel (oil) or, less commonly, kerosene. Because of the ready availability in bulk of the raw materials, ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) mixtures have occasionally been used for improvised bombs, for example by the Provisional IRA and in the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. It is also used in military explosives such as the daisy cutter bomb, and as a compon ...

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Ammonium nitrate, Ammonium nitrate - Use in explosives, Ammonium nitrate - Disasters, Ammonium nitrate - Historically significant accidental explosions, Ammonium nitrate - Other uses, Ammonium nitrate - History, Ammonium nitrate - Production

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Ammonium nitrate is a well-known explosive commonly used in a 2/3 mix with TNT in aerial bombs. World War II was fought with ammonium nitrate explosives. If the quantity level is >10,000,000 pounds (4,800 tonnes), it will create an explosion comparable to that caused by a nuclear weapon. Thus, it was known to be extremely dangerous in large quantities, primarily due to its supporting oxidation. In 1921 the Oppau explosion occurred: a depot of 9,000,000 pounds (4,100 tonnes) exploded in the German city of Oppau, killing 565 people in the l ...

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Texas City Disaster, Texas City Disaster - The Ships, Texas City Disaster - The explosions, Texas City Disaster - Scale of the disaster, Texas City Disaster - Firefighting casualties, Texas City Disaster - Other ammonium nitrate explosions, Texas City Disaster - Legal case

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The Grandcamp was a recently salvaged, 441-foot-long (134 m) Liberty ship, christened the SS Benjamin R. Curtis in Los Angeles in 1942, that served in the Pacific theatre and was mothballed in Philadelphia after World War II. In a Cold War gesture, it was assigned to the French Line to assist in the rebuilding of Europe. The ammonium nitrate in the two ships, and the adjacent warehouse, was fertilizer on its way to farmers in Europe. The Grandcamp had arrived from Houston, Texas, where the port auth ...

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Texas City Disaster, Texas City Disaster - The Ships, Texas City Disaster - The explosions, Texas City Disaster - Scale of the disaster, Texas City Disaster - Firefighting casualties, Texas City Disaster - Other ammonium nitrate explosions, Texas City Disaster - Legal case

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Ammonal is an explosive made up of ammonium nitrate, trinitrotoluene, and aluminium powder mixed in a ratio of roughly 22/67/11. The ammonium nitrate functions as an oxidizer and aluminium as a power enhancer. To some extent the aluminium makes it less sensitive to detonation. The use of the relatively cheap ammonium nitrate and aluminium make it a replacement for pure TNT. The mixture can suffer since it has the problem of ammonium nitrate being highly hygroscopic. It burns when open, and detonates when con ...

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Ammonal - History

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Amatol is a highly explosive material, a mixture of TNT and ammonium nitrate, and used as an explosive in military weapons. Mixture ratios range from 80 percent ammonium nitrate/20 percent TNT, down to 50/50. Amatol 80/20 (used in the Bangalore Torpedo used in the Vietnam War) can be identified on detonation by the white smoke it produces. Amatol 50/50 produces a far darker smoke, though not as dark as produced by TNT alone. Its color ranges from white to slightly yellow or pinkish brown, depending on the mixture used, a ...

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The 35% ammonium nitrate, used as fertilizer but also in high explosives, was manufactured in Nebraska and Iowa (not at the nearby Monsanto or Union Carbide plants) and shipped to Texas City by rail before being loaded on the Grandcamp, adjacent to a cargo of ammunition. It was manufactured in a patented explosives process, mixed with clay, petrolatum, rosin and paraffin to avoid moisture caking. It was also packaged in paper sacks, then transported and stored at temperatures that would increase its chemical activity. Longshore ...

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Texas City Disaster, Texas City Disaster - The Ships, Texas City Disaster - The explosions, Texas City Disaster - Scale of the disaster, Texas City Disaster - Firefighting casualties, Texas City Disaster - Other ammonium nitrate explosions, Texas City Disaster - Legal case

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ANFO stands for ammonium nitrate/fuel oil (most often diesel fuel, sometimes kerosene). It is by far the most widely used explosive in coal mining, quarrying, metal mining, and civil construction: it accounts for an estimated 80% of the 6,000,000,000 pounds (2,700,000 metric tons) of explosive used annually in North America. ANFO under most conditions is considered a high explosive: it decomposes through detonation rather than deflagration and with a high velocity of detonation. It is a secondary explosive consisting of distinc ...

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The Texas City Disaster is generally considered the worst industrial accident in United States history. Witnesses compared the scene to the fairly recent images of the 1943 German bombing of ammunition ships in the harbor at Bari and the much larger devastation at Nagasaki. The official death toll was 581. Of the dead, 405 were identified and 63 were never identified. The remaining 113 people were classified as missing, and no identifiable parts were ever found. This figure includes all 28 firefighters who were at the ship when it exploded. ...

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Texas City Disaster, Texas City Disaster - The Ships, Texas City Disaster - The explosions, Texas City Disaster - Scale of the disaster, Texas City Disaster - Firefighting casualties, Texas City Disaster - Other ammonium nitrate explosions, Texas City Disaster - Legal case

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Nitrate - Agriculture. Nitrates such as potassium nitrate (saltpeter) and ammonium nitrate are an important source of nitrogen in fertilizers. These nitrates must be used quickly by plants because they are easily lost through leaching or denitrification by bacteria. Nitrate pollution has become an environmental issue in rivers and oceans. According to the Black Hawk County Green Party, the Cedar River (Iowa) has the highest nitrate levels of any river in the world. ...

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Nitrate, Nitrate - Chemical properties, Nitrate - Uses, Nitrate - Agriculture, Nitrate - Explosives, Nitrate - Medicine, Nitrate - Related materials, Nitrate - Effects on fish

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Nitrates such as potassium nitrate (saltpeter) and ammonium nitrate are an important source of nitrogen in fertilizers. These nitrates must be used quickly by plants because they are easily lost through leaching or denitrification by bacteria. Nitrate pollution has become an environmental issue in rivers and oceans. According to the Black Hawk County Green Party, the Cedar River (Iowa) has the highest nitrate levels of any river in the world. Nitrates are also oxidizing agents. When mixed with hydrocarbons or carbohydrates, nitrates can form a flammable or even explosive mixture. For example, potassium nitrate is the oxidizin ...

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Nitrate, Nitrate - Uses, Nitrate - Related materials

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On September 21, 2001, a huge explosion occurred in the AZF fertilizer factory in Toulouse, France, belonging to the Grande Paroisse branch of the Total group. The results of the official enquiry were that a warehouse of ammonium nitrate had exploded following improper handling of this dangerous material, including mixing with chemical impurities. Three hundred tons of ammonium nitrates were stored (the maximum capacity was 2,000 tons). The whole factory was destroyed making a crater of depth 20 to 30m (65 to 100f ...

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AZF, AZF - AZF Explosion at a Toulouse chemical factory, AZF - Terrorist Group

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From early 1915 the British employed ammonal for their mines during the First World War, the composition was 65% ammonium nitrate, 15% TNT, 17% coarse aluminum and 3% charcoal. Three of the mines at the Battle of Messines exploded at the start of the Third Battle of Ypres was 30,000 lb of ammonal, the fourth was 20,000. It remains in use as an industrial explosive. ...

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Ammonal, Ammonal - History

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At 9:02 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, April 19, 1995, in the street in front (the north side) of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, a rented Ryder truck containing about 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of explosive material exploded. The truck bomb was composed of ammonium nitrate, an agricultural fertilizer, and nitromethane, a highly volatile motor-racing fuel—a mixture also known as ANNM or Kinepak (ammonium nitrate/nitromethane). Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf War veteran, was arrested, travelling north out of Oklahoma City on I-35, by an Oklahoma highway patrolman within an hour of the explosion af ...

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Oklahoma City bombing, Oklahoma City bombing - The bombing, Oklahoma City bombing - Presidential response, Oklahoma City bombing - Trial and aftermath, Oklahoma City bombing - Effects on children, Oklahoma City bombing - The Oklahoma City National Memorial, Oklahoma City bombing - Tenth anniversary

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Another source of ammonia is the decomposition of dead organic matter by bacteria called decomposers, which produce ammonium ions (NH4+). In well-oxygenated soil, these are then oxygenated first by bacteria into nitrite (NO2-) and then into nitrate. This conversion of ammonia into nitrate is called nitrification. Ammonia is highly toxic to fish life and the water discharge level of ammonia from wastewater treatment plants must often be closely monitored. To prevent loss of fish ...

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Nitrogen cycle, Nitrogen cycle - The Basics, Nitrogen cycle - Ammonia, Nitrogen cycle - Ways to convert N2

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Another source of ammonia is the decomposition of dead organic matter by bacteria called decomposers, which produce ammonium ions (NH4+). In well-oxygenated soil, these are then oxygenated first by bacteria into nitrite (NO2-) and then into nitrate. This conversion of ammonia into nitrate is called nitrification. Ammonia is highly toxic to fish life and the water discharge level of ammonia from wastewater treatment plants must often be closely monitored. To prevent loss of fish ...

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Nitrogen cycle, Nitrogen cycle - The Basics, Nitrogen cycle - Ammonia, Nitrogen cycle - Conversion of N2

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Similar to light microscopy, stains can be used to selectively highlight cellular structures in transmission electron microscopy. Electron-dense compounds of heavy metals are typically used. For example, phosphotungstic acid is a common negative stain for viruses, nerves, polysaccharides, and other biological tissue materials. Other chemicals used in electron microscopy staining include ammonium molybdate, cadmium iodide, carbohydrazide, ferric chloride, hexamethylene tetramine, indium trichloride, lanthanum nitrate, lead acetate, lea ...

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Staining biology, Staining biology - In vitro staining, Staining biology - Preparation, Staining biology - Staining, Staining biology - In vivo staining, Staining biology - Basic biological stains, Staining biology - Bismarck brown, Staining biology - Carmine, Staining biology - Coomassie blue, Staining biology - Crystal violet, Staining biology - DAPI, Staining biology - Eosin, Staining biology - Ethidium bromide, Staining biology - Fuchsin, Staining biology - Haematoxylin, Staining biology - Hoechst stains, Staining biology - Iodine, Staining biology - Malachite green, Staining biology - Methyl green, Staining biology - Methylene blue, Staining biology - Neutral red, Staining biology - Nile blue, Staining biology - Nile red, Staining biology - Osmium tetroxide, Staining biology - Rhodamine, Staining biology - Safranin, Staining biology - Electron microscopy

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Similar to light microscopy, stains can be used to selectively highlight cellular structures in transmission electron microscopy. Electron-dense compounds of heavy metals are typically used. For example, phosphotungstic acid is a common negative stain for viruses, nerves, polysaccharides, and other biological tissue materials. Other chemicals used in electron microscopy staining include ammonium molybdate, cadmium iodide, carbohydrazide, ferric chloride, hexamine, indium trichloride, lanthanum nitrate, lead acetate, lead citrate, lead ...

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Staining biology, Staining biology - In vitro staining, Staining biology - Preparation, Staining biology - Staining, Staining biology - In vivo staining, Staining biology - Basic biological stains, Staining biology - Bismarck brown, Staining biology - Carmine, Staining biology - Coomassie blue, Staining biology - Crystal violet, Staining biology - DAPI, Staining biology - Eosin, Staining biology - Ethidium bromide, Staining biology - Fuchsin, Staining biology - Haematoxylin, Staining biology - Hoechst stains, Staining biology - Iodine, Staining biology - Malachite green, Staining biology - Methyl green, Staining biology - Methylene blue, Staining biology - Neutral red, Staining biology - Nile blue, Staining biology - Nile red, Staining biology - Osmium tetroxide, Staining biology - Rhodamine, Staining biology - Safranin, Staining biology - Electron microscopy

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