Can fertilizer cause an explosion?

Ammonium nitrate, which is used in fertilizers and bomb making, is a salt made from ammonium and nitric acid, and it is highly explosive. The more ammonium nitrate, or NH4-NO3, the bigger its explosive capacity. Once a reaction is sparked, ammonium nitrate explodes violently.

Which fertilizer was used as a powerful explosive?

Ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate is another story. This fertilizer is a gravel-like solid, making it far easier to handle and transport. But when mixed with a fuel and ignited, it becomes a powerful explosive. Ammonium nitrate was the primary explosive used in the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.

Can you use Fertiliser to make a bomb?

Although many common chemicals potentially can be used to make explosives into terrorist bombs, ammonium nitrate is by far the most accessible ingredient. It is produced in enormous quantities for fertilizer and for blasting agents used in mining and other industries.

Can fertilizer start a fire?

Commercial fertilizer typically contains ammonium nitrate, a compound that helps absorb moisture from the atmosphere. While it remains solid at room temperature, it can become extremely volatile if ignited or even heated, causing explosions or fires.

Why is fertilizer and diesel explosive?

AN is used in fertilizers because of its high nitrogen content. In 2010, AN accounted for about 15 per cent of all nitrogen fertilizers used around the globe. On its own, ammonium nitrate is benign, but when mixed with certain hydrocarbons, such as fuel oil, it can become a powerful explosive.

Are fertilizers toxic?

Plant fertilizers are mildly poisonous if small amounts are swallowed. Larger amounts can be harmful to children. Touching a large amount of plant fertilizer may cause severe burns. This article is for information only.

Why does fertilizer sometimes explode?

The explosive force occurs when solid ammonium nitrate decomposes very rapidly into two gases, nitrous oxide and water vapor. When the chemical exploded, it caused a blast powerful enough to knock people to the ground in Galveston, Texas, 10 miles (16 kilometers) away.

Is it illegal to buy ammonium nitrate?

But in the US, you can buy ammonium nitrate on Amazon, at gardening stores, or from agricultural suppliers. The US Department of Homeland Security is required to “regulate the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate by an ammonium nitrate facility” to prevent people from using it for terrorism.

How is fertilizer used in explosive?

The energy of the detonation wave causes the ammonium nitrate in the fertilizer to vaporize – the solid fertilizer becomes a gas in an instant. The gas released from the decomposing fertilizer is what drives the explosion. The rapid release of oxygen, along with the energy from the detonation wave, ignites the fuel.

Can a bag of fertilizer explode?

It’s worth noting that although ammonium nitrate and other fertilizer explosions are terrible, they are rare. But we’d be remiss not to mention that some folks have also noted that fertilizer can make a deadly, intentional weapon. Timothy McVeigh, for one, used a fertilizer bomb in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

How do you extinguish a fertilizer fire?

Use flooding quantities of water from a distance as promptly as possible. It is important that the mass of ammonium nitrate be kept cool and the burning be quickly extinguished. Keep adjacent fertilizers cool by spraying with large amounts of water.

How powerful are fertilizer bombs?

The combination of unstable nitrogen bonds in the fertilizer, plus heat from the fire, resulted in an explosion as powerful as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake.