Safety assessment of Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil (ANFO) manufactory

2018 ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
D.S. Bonifácio ◽  
E.B.F. Galante ◽  
A.N. Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Safety Assessment ◽  
Fuel Oil

Characteristics of Rg waves recorded from quarry blasts in central Texas

1995 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 1232-1235
Author(s):  
Tom T. Goforth ◽  
Jessie L. Bonner
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Working Face ◽  
Central Texas ◽  
Seismological Observatory

Abstract Chemical blasts from quarrying operations in central Texas are routinely recorded by the W. M. Keck Foundation Seismological Observatory near China Spring, Texas. The Keck Observatory consists of a single, broadband, three-component, borehole seismograph system. Five quarries, located at distances ranging from 16 to 101 km from the observatory, each detonate from 1 to 6 tons of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil explosive on the average of twice per week. For every quarry for which the orientation of the working face could be determined, dispersed Rg waves are recorded at the Keck Observatory from those quarries at which the working face is directed away from the observatory, but are not observed or are severely attenuated from those quarries at which the working face is directed toward the observatory. Seismograms containing the dispersed Rg are easily recognized as quarry blasts, but those in which the dispersed Rg is absent look like small earthquakes.

scholarly journals Structural and Morphological Quantitative 3D Characterisation of Ammonium Nitrate Prills by X-Ray Computed Tomography

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1230
Author(s):  
Fabien Léonard ◽  
Zhen Zhang ◽  
Holger Krebs ◽  
Giovanni Bruno
Keyword(s):  
Computed Tomography ◽  
Specific Surface ◽  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Specific Surface Area ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Oil Retention ◽  
X Ray Computed

The mixture of ammonium nitrate (AN) prills and fuel oil (FO), usually referred to as ANFO, is extensively used in the mining industry as a bulk explosive. One of the major performance predictors of ANFO mixtures is the fuel oil retention, which is itself governed by the complex pore structure of the AN prills. In this study, we present how X-ray computed tomography (XCT), and the associated advanced data processing workflow, can be used to fully characterise the structure and morphology of AN prills. We show that structural parameters such as volume fraction of the different phases and morphological parameters such as specific surface area and shape factor can be reliably extracted from the XCT data, and that there is a good agreement with the measured oil retention values. Importantly, oil retention measurements (qualifying the efficiency of ANFO as explosives) correlate well with the specific surface area determined by XCT. XCT can therefore be employed non-destructively; it can accurately evaluate and characterise porosity in ammonium nitrate prills, and even predict their efficiency.

scholarly journals Improving ANFO: Effect of Additives and Ammonium Nitrate Morphology on Detonation Parameters

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 5745
Author(s):  
Magdalena Fabin ◽  
Tomasz Jarosz
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Water Resistance ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Potential Hazard ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Detonation Parameters ◽  
Effect Of Additives ◽  
Method Of Production

Ammonium nitrate–fuel oil (ANFO) is one of the most widely used explosives for civilian purposes. Its main advantages are its low price and simple method of production. The main disadvantages of this material are low water resistance and problems related to non-ideal detonation, which can be a potential hazard when using ANFO. Due to this, research has been conducted for many years to find suitable additives for ANFO that would have the effect of offsetting its drawbacks. The aim of this review was to describe factors affecting the energetic properties of ANFO, including the highlighting of substances that could potentially be additives to ANFO formulations that would reduce the negative effects of non-ideal detonation, while avoiding adversely impacting the effectiveness of the explosive in blasting operations, as well as its sensitivity parameters.

scholarly journals Study of non-conventional fuels for explosives mixes

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salatiel Assis Resende ◽  
Valdir Costa e Silva ◽  
Hernani Mota de Lima
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Rice Straw ◽  
Detonation Velocity ◽  
Sugar Cane ◽  
Alternative Fuels ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Sugar Cane Bagasse ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Corn Cob

The use of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil (ANFO) results in low cost blasting. Such costs may be further reduced by replacing fuel oil with alternative fuels such as biomass (biodiesel, rice straw, corn cob, sugar cane bagasse) and tires residue. This paper investigates the use of other fuels instead of fuel oil by measuring the detonation velocity (VOD) and verifying the importance of these fuels in an explosive mixture. Except for biodiesel, all the tests conducted for the mixture of ammonium nitrate and alternative fuels showed poor performance when compared with ANFO. The achieved percentage of detonation velocity (VOD) of the mixtures in relation to the ANFO were 55.4% for ammonium nitrate + rice straw, 64.9% for ammonium nitrate + corn cob, 70.1% for ammonium nitrate + sugar cane bagasse, 74.4% for ammonium nitrate + tires residue and 93.7% for ammonium nitrate + biodiesel. This study indicates that the methodology proposed can be applied as a reference for determination and preparation of explosive mixtures of fuel and oxidizing agents since in all the tests conducted the detonation of the charges occurred.

SHOOTING FOR DEEP REFRACTION EXPERIMENTS

Geophysics ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Underwood ◽  
John Elliston ◽  
Kenneth E. Mathews
Keyword(s):  
Energy Source ◽  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Abandoned Mine ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Mine Shaft ◽  
Seismic Experiment ◽  
Refraction Seismic

Ammonium Nitrate—Fuel Oil explosive loaded into an abandoned mine shaft can be a convenient energy source for a deep refraction seismic experiment. Two such sites have been shot successfully in Australia.

scholarly journals On the Investigation of Microstructured Charcoal as an ANFO Blasting Enhancer

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzana Gotovac Atlagic ◽  
Andrzej Biessikirski ◽  
Łukasz Kuterasiński ◽  
Michał Dworzak ◽  
Michał Twardosz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raman Spectroscopy ◽  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Sem Analysis ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Detonation Pressure ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Graphitic Structure ◽  
Detonation Temperature ◽  
Scanning Electron

In this study, we examined the influence of microstructured charcoal (MC) when added to ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) samples. We performed a study that investigated ANFOs structure, crystallinity, and morphology by utilizing infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. MC characteristics were probed by Raman spectroscopy and SEM analysis. SEM analysis indicated how fuel oil (FO) covered ammonium nitrate prill. Moreover, the surface of the MC was covered by specific microfibers and microtubes. The disordered graphitic structure of the MC was also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Simulation of blasting properties revealed that the addition of MC should decrease blasting parameters like heat explosion, detonation pressure, and detonation temperature. However, the obtained differences are negligible in comparison with the regular ANFO. All analyses indicated that MC was a good candidate as an additive to ANFO.

scholarly journals Self-Acting Formation of an ANFO Similar Type of Explosive under Fire Conditions: A Case Study

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 6980
Author(s):  
Paweł Wolny ◽  
Norbert Tuśnio ◽  
Artur Lewandowski ◽  
Filip Mikołajczyk ◽  
Sławomir Kuberski
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Similar Type ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Explosive Mixture ◽  
End User ◽  
Explosive Material ◽  
Engineering Knowledge ◽  
Police Investigation ◽  
Acting Process

On 2 October 2003 in Saint-Romain-en-Jarez (France) a fire in a farm building triggered an explosion in which 26 people were injured. Police investigation, based solely on an analysis of the effects and on general engineering knowledge, showed that the explosion was caused by an uncontrollably generated mixture of ammonium nitrate (AN) and molten plastic crates which formed an explosive mixture similar to ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO). This is the only commonly known example of an ammonium nitrate blast taking place at its end user destination. Is such an explanation of the incident plausible and could a similar blast possibly happen anywhere else? The experimental results support this thesis of French investigators but raise further doubts. Laboratory reconstruction of the self-acting process of generating the explosive material confirmed the investigators’ report. However, other materials at the incident site could have influenced the final outcome too. The lab-recreated explosion of a mixture of AN and molten plastic partially confirmed the report’s thesis.

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