Premium
Historical record of ammonium nitrate disasters
Author(s) -
Prugh Richard W.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
process safety progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.378
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1547-5913
pISSN - 1066-8527
DOI - 10.1002/prs.12210
Subject(s) - explosive material , detonation , ammonium nitrate , forensic engineering , waste management , environmental science , engineering , history , chemistry , archaeology , organic chemistry
The recent incident in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4, 2020, has raised the awareness of the explosion hazards of ammonium nitrate [AN]. Although AN has been used for many years as an ingredient in explosives and also as a fertilizer, recognition of AN as a self‐reactive material with the potential for detonation is not well‐known to regulatory authorities. As a consequence, inadequate control of storage has led to massive and disastrous explosions, typically following fire in the storage structures or in nearby storage of combustible materials. The purpose of this historical summary of AN incidents is to highlight the explosion hazards and to provide some insight into the measures that are needed to prevent such incidents.