Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Americanwolfsbrother
Unless you let the mixture sit around to long, then the slurry can become very unstable.

Eh? What is in your slurry that makes it unstable? AN in its various basic forms is very, very stable for long periods, hence its popularity. It is used as filler for gelpacks and slurries because it is very cheap, but AN is not the only ingredient in those.

They frequently spike slurries with other less stable explosives precisely because AN is a pain to set off, particularly in small charges. Raw AN is often classified as a tertiary explosive because it takes a fat high-explosive booster to get something resembling a proper detonation.

39 posted on 10/04/2005 9:22:35 PM PDT by tortoise (All these moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies ]


To: tortoise

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/metropolitan/txcity/main.html
'Texas City just blew up'
A powerful chemical explosion 50 years ago propelled a small port town into an unwelcome national and world spotlight

Paul S. Howell / Chronicle

By STEVE OLAFSON
Houston Chronicle

TEXAS CITY - On the morning of April 16, 1947, shortly after 8 a.m., the hatch on the No. 4 hold of the French ship the S.S. Grandcamp was opened so that stevedores could resume loading a shipment of fertilizer bound for Europe.
snip

Just an historical note on fertilizer blowing up.
"The blast took nearly 600 lives and millions of dollars in property, and it scarred the town. A half-century later, people in Texas City celebrate their recovery, but still mourn their loss."


51 posted on 10/04/2005 9:38:17 PM PDT by MEG33 (GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson