What exactly is 'life-threatening ammonium nitrate'? How powerful is this chemical?

Emergency Management Department, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology,

Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Transport, General Administration of Customs,

Five ministries and commissions jointly issued on further

Notice to strengthen the safety management of ammonium nitrate.

Speaking of ammonium nitrate, everyone is familiar with it!

Ammonium nitrate has fire, high temperature,

Hazardous characteristics of explosion caused by violent impact.

There have been many ammonium nitrate explosion accidents in history,

lost heavily!

Typical case of ammonium nitrate

➤Big explosion in the port of Texas, USA

On April 16, 1947, a cargo ship berthed in Texas City, USA, caught fire, detonating 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate on board. The explosion blew two planes into the sky and triggered a series of chain reactions that detonated a nearby chemical plant and another cargo ship carrying 1,000 tons of ammonium nitrate. The explosion killed about 600 people and injured more than 3,500 people. It is considered the most serious industrial explosion in American history.

➤Shenzhen Qingshuihe dangerous goods warehouse exploded

On August 5, 1993, a large explosion occurred in the Qingshuihe Dangerous Goods Warehouse in Shenzhen City. The cause was that a variety of chemicals were mixed in the warehouse, including a large amount of ammonium nitrate. Due to the hot weather, the mixed ammonium nitrate reacted with other chemicals and then heated and ignited spontaneously, which in turn led to an explosion. This accident caused a direct economic loss of 240 million yuan, and more than 800 people were killed or injured.

➤Tianjin Port Big Bang

At around 23:34 on August 12, 2015, a fire and explosion occurred in the Ruihai Company's dangerous goods warehouse in Tianjin Port, Binhai New District, Tianjin. In the accident, the total energy of the 800 tons of ammonium nitrate explosion was about 450 tons of TNT equivalent, resulting in 165 deaths, 8 missing, and 798 injured.

➤Explosion in Beirut Port, Lebanon
On August 4, 2020, an ammonium nitrate explosion occurred in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, causing at least 190 deaths, 6,500 injuries, and about 300,000 homeless.

The explosive principle of ammonium nitrate

Pure ammonium nitrate is stable at room temperature and is not sensitive to blows, collisions or friction.

But ammonium nitrate decomposes at a certain temperature, and the decomposition products are also different at different temperatures. If the thermal decomposition products are not exported in time, the heat will continue to accumulate, and the decomposition will be accelerated, and an explosion may occur, or the explosion may be transmitted due to the shock wave generated by the local explosion of other systems.

In the process of production, storage, transportation, and use, improper handling or failure to take corresponding preventive measures may also lead to serious explosion accidents.