Why Does Fertilizer (Sometimes) Explode?

Reactions Science Videos | October 21, 2020

Ammonium nitrate has been involved in dozens of disasters and terrorist attacks but, under normal circumstances, it’s totally harmless. What turns it deadly?

Sources:
What footage of the Beirut explosion tells us about the blast

The mechanism of the spontaneous detonation of ammonium nitrate in reactive grounds

Explosions of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in storage or transportation are preventable accidents

Review on Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Nitrate

Raman spectroscopy for detection of ammonium nitrate as an explosive precursor used in improvised explosive devices

Safety and security issues relating to low capacity storage of AN-based fertilizers

Lessons to be learned from an analysis of ammonium nitrate disasters in the last 100 years

U.S. Contractor Knew of Explosive Material in Beirut Since at Least 2016

Ammonium nitrate

The chemistry behind the Beirut explosion

What Is Ammonium Nitrate, the Chemical That Exploded in Beirut?

Why Beirut’s ammonium nitrate blast was so devastating

Beirut blast: How does ammonium nitrate create such devastating explosions?

Texas City, Beirut linked by dangers of ammonium nitrate

The deadly history of ammonium nitrate, the explosive linked to the Beirut blast

The self-sustaining decomposition of ammonium nitrate fertiliser: Case study, Escombreras valley, Spain

What is ammonium nitrate and what happens when it explodes?

Crop nutrition resource library

Beirut explosion: What we know so far

Tianjin chemical blast: China jails 49 for disaster

Beirut Explosion Generates Seismic Waves Equivalent Of A Magnitude 3.3 Earthquake

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