Why Does Fertilizer (Sometimes) Explode?

Ammonium nitrate has been involved in dozens of disasters and terrorist attacks but, under normal circumstances, its totally harmless. What turns it deadly? #beirut #explosive #ammoniumnitrate

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SOURCES
What footage of the Beirut explosion tells us about the blast
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/video/beirut-explosion-footage.html

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213343717306425#!

Explosions of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in storage or transportation are preventable accidents
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389415301680

Review on Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Nitrate
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07370652.2011.573523

Raman spectroscopy for detection of ammonium nitrate as an explosive precursor used in improvised explosive devices
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32146426/

Safety and security issues relating to low capacity storage of AN-based fertilizers
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15885898/

Lessons to be learned from an analysis of ammonium nitrate disasters in the last 100 years
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25203808/

U.S. Contractor Knew of Explosive Material in Beirut Since at Least 2016
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/world/middleeast/beirut-explosion-us-contractor.html

Ammonium nitrate
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Ammonium-nitrate

The chemistry behind the Beirut explosion
https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/chemistry-behind-Beirut-explosion/98/web/2020/08

What Is Ammonium Nitrate, the Chemical That Exploded in Beirut?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-ammonium-nitrate-the-chemical-that-exploded-in-beirut/

Why Beiruts ammonium nitrate blast was so devastating
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02361-x

Beirut blast: How does ammonium nitrate create such devastating explosions?
https://www.livescience.com/28841-fertilizer-explosions-ammonium-nitrate.html

Texas City, Beirut linked by dangers of ammonium nitrate
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/bayou-city-history/article/Texas-City-Beirut-linked-by-dangers-ammonium-15464668.php

The deadly history of ammonium nitrate, the explosive linked to the Beirut blast
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/08/deadly-history-ammonium-nitrate-explosive-linked-to-beirut-blast/

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What is ammonium nitrate and what happens when it explodes?
https://www.compoundchem.com/2020/08/05/ammonium-nitrate/

Crop nutrition resource library
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Beirut explosion: What we know so far
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53668493

Tianjin chemical blast: China jails 49 for disaster
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37927158

Beirut Explosion Generates Seismic Waves Equivalent Of A Magnitude 3.3 Earthquake
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidbressan/2020/08/06/beirut-port-explosion-triggers-magnitude-3-earthquake/#37eab2f51426


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