How do ammonium nitrate bombs work

Interestingly, it also provides data on non-fertilizer applications, among which the manufacture of explosives. However, as we witnessed in Beirut, the explosive was exactly the same molecule as fertilizer, ammonium nitrate. As the ammonia produced by petrochemistry can be used to make explosives as well as to fertilize soils, calculations of the number of people fed by the Haber-Bosch process should also perhaps take into account those killed in armed conflicts in the course of the 20th century.

Another link to explosives is that the same molecule used for fertilizers can be used to produce other explosives when mixed with a small amount of fuel oil. This combination has been used for criminal and terrorist attacks , but also legally. More pertinent today, climate change is causing not only heat waves and flooding, but increased numbers of people are suffering from air pollution , which reduces life expectancy.

Sources include fossil fuel burning and excessive fertilizer use. Excessive heat is also associate with decreased life expectancy. Air conditioning can relieve heat stress during heatwaves, but the inequal access to cooling leads to a form of social injustice.

In fact, the Haber-Bosch process contributes two-fold to global warming. Production of ammonia from natural gas produces methane.

So production of fertilizers, their use in the soil and livestock husbandry all contribute to climate change. As the cannon shots resonate, they remind us that Napoleon invaded Russia that year. To fight these wars, Napoleon needed ammunition, and ammunition requires gunpowder, a mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate saltpetre. So what, beyond the use of saltpetre in explosives, is the link to iodine? Today years on, we know we all need minute quantities of iodine to make thyroid hormone.

It was used in Irish Republican Army IRA bombings in London in the s, the explosion that blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing people, and the blasts in Bali nightclubs in which more than died. Many of the homemade bombs that were used against U.

This story corrects affiliation of Professor Andrea Sella in Aug. Editor's picks Updated. By Reuters Staff 4 Min Read. By contrast, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in had a yield of at least 13, tons of TNT.

Seventy-five years later, National Geographic revisits the elusive horror of Hiroshima. Given that these back-of-the-envelope calculations come with a wide margin of error, the estimate is consistent with the 2, tons that Lebanese officials say was stored by the port. Or, this discrepancy might mean that the material inside the warehouse was not pure ammonium nitrate, and some other compound was involved with the blast.

Some internet rumors speculate that because the ammonium nitrate was left to sit in a warehouse for several years, it would have degraded, becoming more volatile and increasingly dangerous over time.

A more likely explanation is that the ammonium nitrate in Beirut was not alone inside the warehouse. Given the reported amount, Oxley hypothesizes that a vehicle must have been used to carry the compound inside, and that could have contaminated it with oil or gasoline.

Even a small amount of contamination would have made the ammonium nitrate more likely to detonate. Though Lebanese authorities have said ammonium nitrate was the culprit in the blast, Lewis notes that in many cases commercial explosives are referred to as just this compound even though they contain additives.

Reconstructing exactly what went wrong in Beirut will be difficult, but Chavez says officials should look for evidence of improper storage, confinement, contamination, lack of ventilation, and potential sources of ignition. Such investigations may take time.

Lebanon was already dealing with political and financial woes , due in part to the Syrian migration crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. There are also longer-term effects to consider. Moreover, the decomposition of ammonium nitrate can create byproducts known as nitrogen oxides, which are known to cause respiratory distress. All rights reserved. Science News. A large explosion rocked the Lebanese capital Beirut on August 4. The blast, which rattled entire buildings and broke glass, was felt across the city.

This article has been updated to include the temperature required to detonate pure ammonium nitrate. The story was originally published on August 6. Share Tweet Email.

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