Ammonium nitrate
- August 5, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Subject: Science and tech
Context:
The catastrophic explosion at Beirut port has so far killed at least 100 people and injured around 4,000
Concept:
- Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) is a white, crystalline chemical which is soluble in water.
- It is common chemical ingredient of agricultural fertilisers, the nitrogen rich compound is also the main component of the explosive composition known as ANFO — ammonium nitrate fuel oil.
- Large quantities of stored ammonium nitrate are regarded as a major fire hazard, with multiple reported cases across the world. The explosion of large storage can happen primarily in two ways.
- One is by some type detonation or initiation because the storage comes in contact with explosive mixture.
- Second, the blast can result due to a fire which starts in the ammonium nitrate store because of the heat generated due to the oxidation process at large scale.