The Beirut explosion pokes holes in the rules that regulate ammonium nitrate trade
Dozens of people in Lebanon’s port city of Beirut used their phones to capture the deadly and terrifying shockwave caused by the explosion. The pictures of charred car shells, blackened, windowless buildings and bloodied residents have shone a spotlight on the dangers of the chemical ammonium nitrate .
“Right now it’s very difficult to say what caused the explosion. It could be anything - maybe an electric short-circuit. But what’s clear is that you need to follow all the SOPs when storing this chemical,” says Dr Shagufta Ishtiaq, the head of Karachi University’s chemical engineering department. A massive blast in 2015 in China's Tianjin municipality at a storage facility which contained ammonium nitrate among other chemicals killed 165 people. On its own, AN is pretty stable. However, it turns into an explosive if rapidly heated. Put it in a confined and well sealed-off space such as a warehouse - and it becomes a massive bomb.
A ship, Grandcamp, loaded with 2,300 tons of AN, caught fire. Without realising what they were doing, the firefighters tried to block the vents, hoping to keep the oxygen out and kill the fire. AN, however, is an oxidising agent and does not need oxygen to burn.
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