You may have read a lot about ammonium nitrate recently, the chemical that has been blamed for the tragic explosion in Beirut that occurred on Tuesday 4 August. But what is ammonium nitrate and what is it that makes it so dangerous?
First of all, ammonium nitrate is synthetic, i.e. it’s not a natural substance, and is the result of chemical manufacturing. It’s made in large industrial quantities to be used for fertiliser, as well as to create explosives for such industries as mining.
Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London, says “You won’t just find ammonium nitrate in the ground. It’s made by reacting ammonia with nitric acid—and on its own it’s relatively safe to handle.”
However, ammonium nitrate can become dangerous if large quantities of the material are left lying around and it starts to decay. “Over time it will absorb little bits of moisture and it eventually turns into an enormous rock,” says Professor Sella. And in this form it becomes much more dangerous; as if a fire reaches it the chemical reaction will be much more intense.
The videos from Beirut showed smoke billowing from a fire followed by a mushroom cloud. The compressed air produces a supersonic shockwave that travels through the air, and in that you can see the white spherical cloud travel out from the centre and expand upwards. Professor Sella says: “The air expands and cools rapidly and the water condenses, and this causes a mushroom cloud.”
But it’s not only the explosion that is dangerous, but also the toxic gases the explosion can release, including nitrogen oxides and ammonia gas—making ammonium nitrate an extremely dangerous chemical.
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