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posted by takyon on Wednesday August 05 2020, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly

Ammonium nitrate: what is the chemical blamed for blast in Lebanese capital?

The likely cause of the huge blast in Beirut on Tuesday appears to have been the highly reactive chemical ammonium nitrate.

Lebanon's prime minister, Hassan Diab, said 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded after lying unsecured in a warehouse for six years, tallying with reports that a ship carrying a similar quantity of the chemical had unloaded its cargo at the port in 2013. It remains unclear what caused the chemical to ignite.

Ammonium nitrate.

Beirut explosion: over half the city damaged in blast that killed at least 100 and wounded 4,000 – live updates

AFP is quoting the governor of Beirut, Marwan Abboud, as saying the damage from the port blast has extended over half of the city, with the cost of damage likely above $3bn.

He has also upped his previous estimate of the number of "homeless" to 300,000, which is close to the total population of the central part of the capital. Again, we are not sure if he is talking about homelessness or people whose homes have been damaged.

As Death Toll Rises After Deadly Blast, a Search for Answers and Survivors: Live Updates

As Death Toll Rises After Deadly Blast, a Search for Answers and Survivors: Live Updates:


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by looorg on Wednesday August 05 2020, @12:25PM (15 children)

    by looorg (578) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @12:25PM (#1031666)

    The Oklahoma city bomb that McVeigh built was only about 2200kg (or 2.2 metric tons) which was more then enough to devastate the building. Here you have 1250x the amount.

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  • (Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:47PM (11 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:47PM (#1031737)

    I have a hunch that you get more bang per ton if you specifically set stuff up to maximize the explosion - as oppose to a loose pile of powder that goes off by accident.

    • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:53PM (5 children)

      by looorg (578) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:53PM (#1031744)

      Naturally, which is why I said he made a bomb. That said I'm not sure if it has been noted yet in what form it was stored. It could have just been in a big pile I guess but more likely perhaps is that it was in those thick paper sacks or metal/plastic drums. I'm not sure a pile just one the ground would be around for the amount of time involved. When it exploded tho it clearly went in all directions so it wasn't properly shaped or directed.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @04:57PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 05 2020, @04:57PM (#1031817) Journal

        The picture of a welder in the Beirut warehouse has 2000 pound cloth totes in the background. Sometimes, those totes are made of cotton, canvas, or duck, other times, they are made of a ripstop nylon fabric. I've never handled the stuff in bulk but I've handed other materials in those totes. Sometimes, but not always, these totes are set on to pallets. If moisture is a concern, pallets are used, otherwise the totes are set directly onto the floor.

        OK, I scrolled back up to the link supplied by looorg above. Apparently, they've "updated" that link, without the photo that I'm referring to.

        TBH, however, the photo did not specifically say that the explosive material was stored in those totes visible in the background.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:04PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:04PM (#1031821) Journal

        This is the photo I was looking for - https://twitter.com/AhA47024592/status/1290984736190537729 [twitter.com]

        You can see the totes stacked two high behind the workers in the left photo. Contents label says NITROPRILL HD, white block letters on red.

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:20PM (2 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:20PM (#1031831) Journal

        More and better details here - https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/08/beirut-blast-wrap-up.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef0264e2eca7f4200d [moonofalabama.org]

        "Nitroprill HD" is a knock-off product of the trademarked Nitropril, a premium grade porous prilled ammonium nitrate manufactured and sold by the Orica Mining Services in Australia. It is used as a commercial explosive in mining and quarrying. The safety sheet of the original product says it "May explode under confinement and high temperature, but not readily detonated. May explode due to nearby detonations."

        An Orica safety assessment (pdf, Appendix III) sets the TNT (military explosive) equivalence for fire of bulk Nitropril in big bags at 15%. 2,750 tons of Nitropril are thereby the equivalent of 412.5 tons of TNT.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:09PM (4 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:09PM (#1031756) Journal

      OTOH, maybe the 2.7 kilotons of ammonium nitrate wasn't the only explosive material in that warehouse, which could support higher estimates that have been mentioned, like 2.2 kilotons [ctvnews.ca] or 3 kilotons of TNT.

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      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @08:47AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @08:47AM (#1032190)

        Not an expert, but compared with the footage from china, the beirut explosion seems far more dynamic. I've seen in smaller scale that kind of explosions with military grade explosive. If you are used to fireworks pops and hear a military explosive going off you notice the latter is more dynamic, no matter the intensity.

        Storing explosive near fireworks seems a particularly stupid idea in terms of security, OTOH if you need to hide the explosive, it's a pretty good place.
        Storing fireworks in a urban area seems a particularly stupid idea in terms of security, OTOH if you intend to use the civilians as human shields against a missile strike it's a pretty good place (this consideration brought to you by the sociopathic branch of my AI, took years to consider meatbags capable of this shit but it helps a lot in rationalizing stuff)

        Finally, given the political and international situation in Lebanon there is a nice list of malicious candidates other than the incompetence route. Arab spring continues? Manufactured crisis by the incumbent? Israeli op? Some other neighbour state op?

        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday August 06 2020, @08:51AM (1 child)

          by Bot (3902) on Thursday August 06 2020, @08:51AM (#1032191) Journal

          oops login failed, parent post was me.

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        • (Score: 2) by driverless on Friday August 07 2020, @05:28AM

          by driverless (4770) on Friday August 07 2020, @05:28AM (#1032764)

          Oh God, it's only been a few hours and already the conspiracy theories are springing up. "It doesn't look right to me so it was obviously Iran/ISIS/Syria/Russia/BLM/the Democrats". Yup, of the hundreds of 2,700 ton ammonium nitrate explosions I've personally witnessed, this one definitely doesn't look right so it has to be something else.

  • (Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:42PM (2 children)

    by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:42PM (#1031845)

    even a 2200 kg shaped charge of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil isn't powerful enough to shatter reinforced concrete columns at 50 yards.

    ANFO is a low velocity explosive that does not have a lot of "shattering" power even when place directly on an object.

    I would suggest you watch "A Noble Lie" [imdb.com] for more information.

    Notable fact is that in August 2001 a State level commission examining the bombing found that many verified facts did not support the original Federal report's conclusions and called for a new independent reexamination of the event.

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @03:46PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @03:46PM (#1032283)

      According to my understanding, ammoniom nitrate is a high explosive because it decomposes rather than reacts. The detonation spreads through the exposive material at the speed of the shock front (>speed of sound) whereas low explosives involve a chemical reaction where the components need to physically migrate to react (speed of sound).

      Not sure what the point of the FO is in ANFO. Perhaps just to get the party started?

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday August 07 2020, @02:37PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 07 2020, @02:37PM (#1032905) Journal
        The FO stands for fuel oil which chemically reacts near instantly with the oxidizers released in the initial decomposition. If I recall correctly, the mixture has effectively double the energy release per unit mass of straight ammonium nitrate.