However if it is stored in a large pile, above its critical diameter and initiated, it can have explosive properties. This fire then spread to the ammonium nitrate pile which started to burn giving off NOx products, water as a gas and nitrogen.
As the ammonium nitrate burnt the gaseous products within the pile could not escape causing the burn rate to increase.
When the speed of the burn became supersonic greater than the speed of sound through the material the ammonium nitrate detonated resulting in a supersonic shock travelling through the material which became a blast wave when it travelled through the atmosphere. The blast wave can travel great distances causing damage to buildings, cars, people etc. Is there anything that you can tell from the extent of the damage and how away the blast was felt? The pressures would cause damage to the ear drums, lungs, organs, and result in broken bones.
The high temperatures would result in burns to the skin and lungs. Ammonium nitrate absorbs water and becomes over a period of time, a hard solid rather than a powder.
The velocity of detonation increase with density so the power of the explosion is greater in a solid compared to a powder. It is found naturally but is made in large quantities by reacting the gas ammonia with nitric acid. In itself it is quite innocuous, being non-poisonous like sodium chloride and stored properly in water-tight containers is relatively stable.
Its main applications are as a fertiliser and as a component in explosives used, for instance, in mining. If in an open space where the heat can escape, if heated it decomposes to oxides of nitrogen which are a health hazard and water vapour but will not catch fire.
However, if it comes into contact with an intense source of heat and ignition, such as a detonator or an intense fire for some time, and is present as a large bulk mass e. It decomposes rapidly to gases, because of the confinement heat cannot escape, the gases rapidly expand and the explosion occurs. This releases an enormous amount of energy, and sends out a shock wave as the surrounding air is rapidly compressed which propagates very rapidly over the surrounding area and does enormous damage to buildings and people.
This is what seems to have happened in Beirut yesterday. So this indicates that there may have been a fire close to or even inside the store, which was probably the source of heat and maybe of ignition for flammable packaging which set off the explosion of the tonnes of ammonium nitrate reportedly stored there. When the explosion happened, a new mushroom shaped cloud rapidly developed and expanded rapidly over a wide area, inland over the port and out over the water.
The mushroom type cloud is formed by the rapidly expanding gases which rise upwards as they are heated and so have a lower density than the surrounding air. The pressure shockwave radiates outwards through the air much more quickly and its effects are felt much further away within seconds.
You can see buildings raised to the ground instantly when the pressure wave reaches them. You can imagine what this will do to any humans in its wake. They stand little chance of surviving. When such a large quantity of compacted ammonium nitrate is exposed to intense heat — if, say, an accidental fire breaks out — it can trigger an explosion.
The shock wave following a such a blast can be deadly. The explosion produces an area of high pressure that travels faster than the speed of sound, shattering glass and injuring people. In Beirut, the disaster has had such tragic consequences for reasons unrelated to the explosion itself.
Efforts to treat injured people have been hampered by damage to hospitals near the blast site, many of which were already under strain from the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, food prices have gone up and about one in three people in the country are unemployed. Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Francis Crick Institute. Hospitals warned that they were quickly filled beyond capacity — and called for blood donations as well as generators to help keep the electricity on. The blasts struck with the force of a 3.
Residents in Cyprus, some miles km across the sea from Beirut, reported hearing and feeling the blast. DW's Bassel Aridi said people were using social media to try to track down their loved ones after the explosions. Aridi also visited a hospital in Beirut after the blasts. All the hospitals have announced that they are totally overloaded. Lebanese authorities fear many more people are buried beneath rubble. President Michel Aoun scheduled an emergency Cabinet meeting for Wednesday and said a two-week state of emergency should be declared.
The devastating blasts come as Lebanon experiences severe economic turbulence, with many people taking to the streets in recent months to protest the financial situation. Prime Minister Hassan Diab declared that Wednesday would be a national day of mourning for the victims of the explosion.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets four days after the explosion, blaming the blast on government corruption and mismanagement boiling. Protesters demanded government resignations and fresh elections, with many occupying government ministries.
Police responded with tear gas. Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad became the first government minister to resign in the wake of the blast, five days after it took place. She apologized to the people of Beirut for failing them. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. The larger the quantity, the more risk it will detonate. At least people were killed and more than 5, injured. Ammonium nitrate can be mixed with other substances to make a bomb.
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