Surface Functionalized Ammonium Nitrate Prills with Enhanced Water Resistance Property: Characterizations and its Application as Commercial Explosives

Abstract

Increasing the hydrophobicity of ammonium nitrate is of great significance for its application as commercial explosives. In this article, a surface functionalized ammonium nitrate with enhanced water-resistance property was demonstrated using a new hydrophobic coating agent. Structural properties and thermal stability of the prepared samples were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetric analysis. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopic results show that a uniform hydrophobic layer is successfully coated on the surface of ammonium nitrate prills. Surface coated ammonium nitrate shows excellent stability in aqueous environment with effective detonation property compared to commonly used ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) explosives. Thus, our surface modified ammonium nitrate could serve as a potential explosive for watery hole blasting operations.

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

“…Modified AN passed a water-resistance test. Unfortunately, after preparing an ANFO sample out of the substance, no detonation was observed [ 40 ].…”

Preparation of a Transient Thermal Expansion Rock Cracking Agent by Deposition Method and Its Nonisothermal Kinetics Study with Isoconversional Procedure and DAEM

“…There are three main types of cracking stone products, which are mining explosives, static cracking agents, and thermal expansion cracking agents. For a long time, mining explosives have been dominant in cracking agent products, but they have been criticized due to their shortcomings such as excessive pollution, low work efficiency, high labor intensity, and low safety during operation, − so the use of mining explosives is also limited to a certain extent. As the use of mining explosives is limited, people have developed a product static expansion agent that relies on the expansion force generated by the hydration reaction of calcium oxide to achieve the effect of rock fracture.…”

Towards “Green” ANFO: Study of Perchlorates and Inorganic Peroxides as Potential Additives

“…Despite the above advantages, ANFO is not free from drawbacks, as it is highly susceptible to water [6], exhibits relatively low performance (typical velocity of detonation is on the order of 2500 m/s) [7], and is prone to misfires [8]. Misfires result in unreacted or partially decomposed explosive that remains in boreholes, constituting a significant risk [9].…”