This I posted after that blast. From a guy I know who worked in the mines on a blasting crew.
Just talked to a guy I know from the UP of Mich who worked on a blasting crew at one of the iron ore mines.
Said that that crap would not go off unless it is mixed with something-its fertilizer, and had an catylist to get it going.
But, he said it could go off if its stored in containers and had something to set it off. A spark Might set it off but he doubted that.
They used to use that stuff and pour it into 50 foot deep hole by 16 inches wide and then they put two caps down the hole at the 15 foot and 30 foot level. They then would cap the hole with crushed rock and the holes were 50 to 60 feet apart. They’d shoot over one mile of rock-enough for the mine to work for one week. All that rock ended up the size of grapefruit.
Everyone knows what they mixed it with.
If they wanted a stronger shot, they add aluminum ++++++++ to it.
So what happened I bet, is the terrorist were playing around with ammunition there and a fire broke out and it got set off.
I would bet that Hezbollah, etc, will be really welcomed round there now.
While stable at ambient temps, it begins to devomposecaround 200c, and critical temp is around 570 c. Between the two temp points, it is giving off volatile combustible gases that create nitric acid and other species. That gas and heat at critical temp creates deflagration, or comm9nly known as an explosion.
No added fuel, caps or firing system required.
It is a dirty orange red blast as the components do not fully oxidize , which is why fuel is added creating ANFO.
No way that a spark would set it off. I did once work for a blasting company and more than once have used ammonium nitrate prills to help start a fire in my wood burner. The stuff burns great but it needs something more energetic to make it blow, something like a stick of dynamite. Also, you generally don't mix it with other compounds until you are ready to use it. You can get it pre-mixed by the bag but usually, they spray it with diesel as it goes in the hole. You use a cap to set of the dynamite with one stick in each hole. The rest of the hole was filled with ammonium nitrate that had been sprayed with diesel fuel and then stem it to seal the blast. It always blowed up real good but no dynamite, no bang. It just burns. It burns real hot. It would be super easy to determine if it really was ammonium nitrate as it is one of the slower explosives out there at only 2700 meters per second. Just play the video in slow motion and see how fast it spreads.
No way that a spark would set it off. I did once work for a blasting company and more than once have used ammonium nitrate prills to help start a fire in my wood burner. The stuff burns great but it needs something more energetic to make it blow, something like a stick of dynamite. Also, you generally don't mix it with other compounds until you are ready to use it. You can get it pre-mixed by the bag but usually, they spray it with diesel as it goes in the hole. You use a cap to set of the dynamite with one stick in each hole. The rest of the hole was filled with ammonium nitrate that had been sprayed with diesel fuel and then stem it to seal the blast. It always blowed up real good but no dynamite, no bang. It just burns. It burns real hot. It would be super easy to determine if it really was ammonium nitrate as it is one of the slower explosives out there at only 2700 meters per second. Just play the video in slow motion and see how fast it spreads.
Thanks for the post. Was thinking along the same lines. As you mentioned the “mixture” it brought back to mind the Oklahoma City Penske rental truck bomb that took out most of the Federal Bldng. The mixture was in 55 gal barrel drums.
Fuses were set up to initiate, through shock tubes, 350 pounds of Tovex Blastrite Gel, which would set off the configuration of barrels. There were 13 filled barrels and nine contained ammonium nitrate and nitromethane the other four contained a mixture of ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel. Forty 50-pound bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer— each barrel weighed nearly 500 lbs. Very destructive as was shown— killing over 168 people including children.