ANFO without booster

[Phoenix]

i ran out of petn yesterday that i used as a booster to detonate anfo
so i tried something else i made a few ml of egdn and poured it into 3 anfo charges 200 g each
i used 4 -5 ml for each charge and then inserted a small cap
(0,4 petn 0,1 leadazid)
the first failed but the others detonated blasting nice holes (:
i made some more with more or less fuel and those with ´too much (toluene i used) detonated much better maybe because of a better caking reaktion
nice to know that you need so few HE to ignite anfo i think

[ALENGOSVIG1]

I've also had luck sensitizing anfo with a bit of nitric ester. I usually use a few ml of nitroglycerin or EGDN to sensitive my charges.

Another way to detonate anfo without using a booster is use "activated" ammonium nitrate
prills. I recently detonated 100g of ansoy using "activated" ammonium nitrate with only 1g of AP

<small>[ May 12, 2002, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: ALENGOSVIG1 ]</small>

[Cricket]

I have heard of this "activated" stuff, but never knew what is was and why it was different fom regular AN. Can anyone tell me?

[ALENGOSVIG1]

There was a topic regarding activated ammonium nitrate but it's seemed to have vanished. Basically you must recrystallize AN by adding a certain ammount of water and then heating it off leaving very low density prills. For a full description on how to do this, Look at patent 4,093,478

[mike]

I just bought 4 instsant cold packs and 1 of them had really light pink prills and 3 of them had darker yellowish-brown color prills. It said on the packs that they contained only AN. Is there anything wrong with my an? btw, all of them were the same brand. thanks!
peace out.

[photonic]

I have never seen brown AN. If it does have other things in it, it should be pretty easy to purify. Just disolve it all in water, boil the water off, then dry it in an oven. There's a detailed procedure at one of the forum member's sites but I can't remeber who's. The name of the site is section1. I think the URL is <a href="http://run.to/section1" target="_blank">http://run.to/section1</a> or something like that.

EDIT: it's darkangel's site

<small>[ June 05, 2002, 01:11 AM: Message edited by: photonic ]</small>

[mike]

thanks, I think I'll be purifying it...it looked pretty sketchy :D
peace out.

[Omogen]

cant you just use some microballons or what the name is in english for example...very fine powdered aluminium to create hotspots or is that not a option in ANFO?

[DBSP]

That is one way to go but that isn't very interesting in this thread since the thing discussed here is AN sensitised by nitric esters.
What you just mentioned would go better in cap sensitive AN mixtures in KIFE.

[Polverone]

Alengosvig, I'm interested in how you prepared your activated ammonium nitrate. I read the patent you linked to. I've tried using 3-5% water mixed with fertilizer prills and then dried in an oven at 60 degrees. There seems to be some "fluffing" and the outside surfaces of the prills grow rough little protrusions.

I'm not sure I am getting the low density I need, though. I'm not starting with porous blasting prills (as the patent specified) and my fertilizer prills seem to not absorb all of the water prior to drying, perhaps because of their light wax anti-moisture coating. I can't test anything until this weekend, and I want to have the best possible materials prepared beforehand. I'm planning on using xylene with the activated ammonium nitrate.

Any tips would definitely be appreciated. Would substituting some Al powder for part of the xylene increase sensitivity? I don't particularly want to mess with emulsions and foaming agents. Neither do I have any nitromethane.

[ALENGOSVIG1]

Well, Its definately the wax coating IMO. The water should be thoroughly mixed in with the AN. If all of the water doesnt get absorbed, then its not thoroughly mixed. I think your going to have to wash the wax coating off with alcohol or some other solvent.

If you dont know how to do this, check out ragnar bensons "homemade c-4" video. I dunno where you can download though. I uploaded it ages ago so its probally circulated around the net by now so you shouldnt have too much trouble finding it online.

It could even be on the FTP. Im not sure though.

[KinePak]

Hey guys check out this site for buying instant cold packs, they got the best prices I think on the web
<a href="http://www.fitnesswholesale.com/ice.htm" target="_blank">http://www.fitnesswholesale.com/ice.htm</a>

[inferno]

Thats kinda expensive, $32.95 for 14lb...

If you cant find the fertiliser i guess youd have to though...oh well

[Rat Bastard]

Would a small container of APAN (using APAN as a booster), be sufficient to detonate ANFO?

[kingspaz]

rat bastard, please refrain from one line shit questions. how can a reasonable estimate be made if you give no information. unspecified amount of APAN, unspecified amount of ANFO, unspecified primary, unspecified containers (confinedment) and unspecified charge shap and location of the detonator in the main charge. not all these are necessary but a few would go along way.

[ALENGOSVIG1]

Yes ANAP will work for detonating anfo. But it depends on how you make the anfo. If you do it properly you dont need a large booster. I detonated 1 lb of ANSOY with 20g AN and 11g picric acid.

Some tips on making anfo:

1)Dry your AN in the oven at low heat for a couple hours before you mix in the fuel. Let the AN cool to room temp before adding the fuel.

2)If the AN has protective coating on it, wash it with denatured alcohol before doing anything alse.

3)when using diesel, let the fuel soak into the prills for an hour or two before useing it. Some fuels take longer to fully penetrate the prills. Soyoil for example takes 5 days.

4)Use wide diameter charges. around 6" diameter and up is good.

5)Bury the charge uner a foot or two of dirt.

6)Put the AN and the fuel in an bucket with a lid and shake it and roll it around on the ground for 30 mins.

7)Make sure the booster is in the center of the charge.

8)Use large pvc or abs pipe with end caps as casings if you can. 6" diameter pvc is hard to buy but its plentiful at construction yards. :)

9)Use activated ammonium nitrate if you can. Search the forum if you dont know that it is.

<small>[ July 11, 2002, 04:46 PM: Message edited by: ALENGOSVIG1 ]</small>

[KinePak]

Yea after i thought about it I realized that it was kinda expensive considering I can get 50lb bags of it at the coutny co-op, but i dont think that stuff is a 100% pure like the instant ice packs, but i am not sure. Anyways i found a place that sells kinepak, its 250 for a case which is 48 sticks, and the primers are a 1.50/each which are #8 caps. the det cord is expensive as hell though. I plan on getting some soon, and i will try to either take pictures or make a video, i probably wont do it until next weekend cuz i dont get paid until MOnday which sux, anyways it will be awesome

[plasma]

How many gms of APAN booster do I need to detonate 1\2 kilo of ANFO (with diesel as fuel) in a tube with 6cm diameter. Is 50ml (10%) of diesel the right amount of fuel ?

Thanks

[xoo1246]

Maybe you should have searched some before posting? 10% diesel is way too much. The diameter might be too small too depending on the confinement. This information can be found within one minute if you had searched.
Is it me or has this forum turned more and more kewl over time? :mad:

<small>[ July 26, 2002, 09:25 AM: Message edited by: xoo1246 ]</small>

[plasma]

I did search, but found nothing useful.
So I ask again : How many gms of APAN booster do I need to
detonate 1\2 kilo of ANFO (with diesel as fuel) in a pvc pipe with 6cm diameter ?

If 10% fuel is way too much I will try with 6%.
BTW, the AN prills have a density of about 0.75g/cc

[kingspaz]

plasma, this IS in the archives and various books which can be found. i believe the optimum percentage of fuel by mass is 5-6%.

edit: also you must weigh the diesel not use its volume. its density is less than that of water so less than 1gcm^-3.

<small>[ July 27, 2002, 07:32 AM: Message edited by: kingspaz ]</small>

[spiryt]

hey everybody !!
I'm a new on this forum but I have some experiences with detonating ANFO charges.
I used a many kinds of ANFO but my favorite is AN/Ngc/flour in ratio 80/15/5 by weight.
I detonate 100g of this stuff using 1g of lead azide.

I don't know why peoples like plasma want to use a traditinally ANFO based on AN and diesel.
It will be beter to use ON or acetone as a fuel and Ngc as a booster.

Sorry for my engish :-))

[ALENGOSVIG1]

What you described was ammonia dynamite rather then ANFO.

<small>[ August 01, 2002, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: ALENGOSVIG1 ]</small>

[McGuyver]

When making ammonia dynamite- what is the ratio of AN to nitro?

Do you just add the AN to the nitro until the nitro appears to be absorbed, or what?

Is there a set percentage? Searched- but to no avail.

[EP]

Copied from Kitchen Improvised Fertilizer Explosives: (just happened to be reading it when I remembered your question)

#1

Prilled AN...88%
One of the following: charcoal, diesel oil, antifreeze, sulfur, motor oil...7%
Nitroglycerin...5%

#2

Prilled AN...83%
Aluminum/Magnesium powder (400 mesh)...10%
Nitroglycerin...7%

#3

Prilled AN...79%
Fuel (anything from #1)...6%
Nitroglycerin...15%

#4

Prilled AN...72%
Aluminum/Magnesium powder (400 mesh)...13%
Nitroglycerin...15%

So it looks like you would have a bit of room to play around with the ratios...

***

edit: As I read on in the document (I just got it a few minutes ago and am skimming it...) I see more AN/NG mixes listed:

Powdered AN/Nitroglycerin:

#1

AN (finely powdered)...72%
Powdered charcoal...8%
Nitroglycerin...20%

#2

AN (finely powdered)...63%
Powdered charcoal...7%
Nitroglycerin...30%

#3

AN (finely powdered)...54%
Powdered charcoal...6%
Nitroglycerin...40%

It is further recommened that 2-4% smokeless powder be added to reduce "sweating"* and that replacing the charcoal with powdered aluminum will give higher performance.

*NG seperating from AN, significantly increasing sensitivity

<small>[ August 01, 2002, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: EP ]</small>

[spiryt]

Hey !!
Yes you right that's rather amonium dynamite then ANFO
but many of beginner have a great problem with detante clasic ANFO, becouse its rathet hard to detonte it correctly.
This what I usually use is good for peples who just start their adventure with explosives.
But I don't know why everbody want to use a nitroglicerine in their charges. The Ngc ( know as egdn ) is much better, less sensitivity
and cheap.
PRODUCING NITROGLICERINE IS VERY DENGEROUS and if you would like to do this you will need concentradeted nitric acid ( 98% ), while to produce Ngc (egdn )you need 65% nitric acid.

Spiryt

[DBSP]

You might be wrong about that, the swedish infomania files states that the lowest conc for NG is 62% HNO3, I can say from my experiense erlier today the it might be correct, the yield is low with that conc(got a tremendous headache this time, and no pills work either).

For EGDN on the other hand 70% HNO3 is required, I think that this is allso correct, I cant be shure though but I belive that I have read it somewhere else as well.

As I'm getting a distillation flask <a href="http://www.makab.se/order/artbilder/1891.jpg" target="_blank">(like this one)</a> tomorrow I will be able to produce some better HNO3, thus getting me more NG. As I get a bit larger ammounts of NG I will test some of the listed formulas as well as other, in order to see if I can find a powerful and easy formula that also is economic and powerful enaugh to boost ANFO. ANNM is off course easier but not as fun, half the fun is preparing the charge from scratch and then watching the effect of it and feel the rush you normaly get in order to satisfy your pyro needs(big boom).

[McGuyver]

Thanks a bunch EP :D .

I don't have a account on the FTP yet, so that helps a lot.

Spiryt, nitroglycerin isn't so INCREDIBLY dangerous, if you've ever made acetone peroxide you'd know. I'm quite sure- AP is quite a bit more sensitive to a hammer blow than NG. Check out this site for correct nitro synthesis.

<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/linux/alengg/main.html" target="_blank">http://www.angelfire.com/linux/alengg/main.html</a>

[spiryt]

Yes I've made AP but i'm not do this now becouse I think that's a shit.
But I still can't undersand why do u want to use nitroglicerine instead of EGDN.

DBSP if you want make a nitroglicerine you will need almost 100% nitrate acid or you will receive only glicerin nitrate.
I have never made a nitro glicerine becouse I don't need it I'm sure that EGDN is much better

[ALENGOSVIG1]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;"> If you want make a nitroglicerine you will need almost 100% nitrate acid </pre><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">You do NOT need "100% nitrate acid".

Its best to use high concentration nitric acid in nitroglycrin sysnthesis but its can also be made with 70% HNO3/H2SO4 or KNO3/H2SO4.

Obviosly you dont know what you are talking about. You need to shut up :mad: and read some more posts and stop posting this worthless BS. Also, i can hardly undrstand what the hell you are talking about half the time. You need to improve your english

Consider this a friendly warning.

I dont see why you think EGDN is so great eithier. They both have they're pros and cons but i think unless your in an area with a climate thats very cold, NG's pros and cons outweigh EGDN's.

The only reason EGDN is manufactured is becuase of the fact that its hard to freeze, unlike nitroglycerin.

EGDN is volatile, it gives worse headaches than NG, and it isnt as powerfull either.

[nitriees]

Recently i found some Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide, the topic discuss
this stuff already closed at 04 June.
If i mix AN/Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide in ratio 94% to 6%, will it
sensitize the AN for detonation?

[Mr Cool]

There are already 321 replies to a topic discussing AN sensitised with ketone peroxides. Isn't that enough for you?
I have never tried an AN/peroxide mixture, but I would imagine 6% peroxide would sensitise it enough for detonation from a cap.

[nitriees]

The Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide i found is a liquid used together
with a dark purple colour hardener to make mould. It is not the AP powder. Sorry because i didn't describe it properly.
The label only shown this is " Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide " and flameble indication, there is no other description.
Is it same characteristic for both?

[kingspaz]

they are not the same characteristics. i think the MEKP would sensitise it because its combustable. AP sensitises it because its a more sensitive explosive than AN.

[PrimoPyro]

Ah, kingspaz is right.

AP is 43% available oxygen, whereas MEKP is lower, at 36% oxygen. That's a 7% decrease in oxidizer.

Combine this with the fact that you claim MEKP is a liquid. Shock waves travel much faster through rigid crystals than through mobile liquids, and the liquids absorb more of the energy through useless rotation and collision, whereas rigid solid crystals push the wave forward with their shattering bonds and rippling effect on the atoms, which wastes much less energy.

The power is less. The delivery is less. And because it is a liquid, it's density less likely less. With BOTH less density AND higher molecular mass, the mole/vol ratio has dropped significantly, making the ffects of the power/mole drop even more apparant.

Funny how all these tiny details add up to something big, isn't it?

PrimoPyro

[Mr Cool]

It was claimed by someone that there are at least two forms of MEKP, one solid and one liquid.
So, you could have:

a)Liquid MEKP;
b)Solid MEKP in solvent;
c)Liquid MEKP in solvent.

The ones in solvents will probably sensitise it no more than an equal amount of alcohol or acetone, but I think liquid MEKP will sensitise it to a similar degree as CTAP. Since the composition is only c. 6% peroxide, the differences in performance between using CTAP and MEKP will probably be negligable.

[KinePak]

I finally went and bought the Kinepak, I was talking about, it cost me quite a bit but it was damn worth it. I set off some charges tonight and I have got picture s and videos, but I dont know how to include them into my reply, so as soon as I find out how to do that, I will have some bad ass pics up, 4pounds of this stuff shot dirt and sticks 300+ into the air, and about a 6foot crater deep and about 15 feet wide--it was bad ass to say the least <a href="http://www.geocities.com/kawliga2380/KINEPAK.html?1029108903528" target="_blank">Pics of my Explosions</a>

<small>[ August 11, 2002, 07:32 PM: Message edited by: KinePak ]</small>

[KinePak]

I also have a Quicktime video of a beaver dam explosion using 4 charges, if anyone is interested. Click on the link in the above post to see the pics

[KinePak]

I got new pics from this weekends explosions, I have some really awesome quicktime videos as well, so e-mail me if you want me to send them to you, or I will try to get them uploaded to my website

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/kawliga2380/KINEPAK.html?1029108903528" target="_blank">Click Here For Pics</a>

<small>[ August 19, 2002, 07:37 AM: Message edited by: KinePak ]</small>

[KinePak]

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I have been trying to figure out a way to get all my pics and videos up, so you guys can view and download them, so I finally set up a FTP, so now yall can dl and view all my pics here the FTP address <a href="ftp://24.170.23.40/" target="_blank">ALL MY EXPLOSION VDEOS AND PICS</a>

I am also going to do some metal tests with my Kinepak so you guys can compare your ANNM, DBSP asked me to do that for yall.

When yall access the FTP its best to use a FTP program, b/c I can send you messages if yall needed help. SmartFTP is what I use

<small>[ August 22, 2002, 08:50 AM: Message edited by: KinePak ]</small>

[ALENGOSVIG1]

you quad posted, and what the hell does pics kinpak have to do with the thread?

[binary mz]

Slightly off topic, but is there any way I can get my AN back from ANFO. Its prilled and I'd rather use the AN by itself for other things.

[ALENGOSVIG1]

If the fuel you used to make the ANFO with isnt water soluble, then you could add the ANFO to water, which would dissolve the NH4NO3. Then use a seperatory funnel (or turkey baster) to seperate the water layer from the fuel layer. Evapourate the water and you should get NH4NO3 crystals.

Never tried it but it should work.

[binary mz]

The ANFO was given to me so I was not sure what fuel it was. I'm under the impression its motor oil. But I dissovled it in water and the oil went to the top so I got as much out as possible. Theres still a little oil left in the solution so I'm letting it sit hoping they'll seperate more. Thanks ALENGOSVIG1.

-----------
edit: would boiling down the solution harm/ruin the AN in the end product? i added a lot of water so at the moment im boiling it down to half its volume then im going to let that evaporate in the oven.
-----------
another edit: ah, it worked. tho, i didnt get all the oil out like i tought i did. i ended up with a thick brown liquid. it never seemed to evaporate until i noticed the spoon i was using was covered in AN after i left it alone for a while. so i put a frying pan in the freezer for about 10 minutes. then i would pour the brown liquid on the pan, and it turned to solid almost instantly. so now i have two mason jars full of beige AN. :) :) :)

<small>[ August 31, 2002, 12:29 AM: Message edited by: binary mz ]</small>

[EP]

I just bought some xylene for gluing plastic aerial shells and remembered it could be used with AN for a cap sensitive mix. Has anyone tried this, and/or have an idea of the proper ratio? I've looked in several files with no mention of using xylene, so should I go with the same ratio as ANFO, or more xylene?

[ALENGOSVIG1]

Ha, what a coincidence! I just got back from severing a 3/4 ft diameter tree with 160g of CN/xylene/NG in a 80/5/15 ratio strapped to the side. I use xylene as a fuel in most of my AN/CN based explosives.

In one of the examples in US patent no. 4093478, xylene is used as a sensitizer/fuel in an activated AN composition. They used 2.5% xylene IIRC, and thats around the amount i use in my AN/CN based explosives, except when in dynamite, where i add a bit more becuase NG has a +OB. I think they used a low perentage of xylene to achieve good sensitivity. I think more or less could be added.

I like using solvents like xylene/acetone/toluene becuase they are less viscous than most fuels so they absorb quickly into the AN/CN.

[EP]

It's been more than a month since I asked about AN/xylene and I still haven't gotten around to actually trying it myself, been pretty busy ( :( ) but in the spare time I do have I'm having fun finally making some real fireworks ( :) ). Anyway, 2.5% xylene is only going to be a few drops in a decent pile of AN, what is the best way to mix it? I don't think there would be any problems with putting it all in a ziplock back and squishing it around a bit then letting the xylene evaporate into the AN, but I'd like to be sure because I have very few opportunities to test and would like to get it right the first time! :p

[DBSP]

This I must say this is interesting, must get me some xylene.

A 3-4% xylene additive to finely powdered AN pressed with microspheres to a density of about 0,8-0,9g/cc should be cap sensitive then. A must try.

Alen, Have you tried using xylene to sensitize the CN on it's own? If so what percentage of xylene did you use? And finally, is the NC you are using fertiliser grade CN (CN+crystal water) or the anhydrous form? Do you dry the CN before use? Sensitivity?

Sorry about all the questions but a CN explosive would be of great use to me since AN is no longer availible in bulk anymore.

[blindreeper]

Sorry to ask this but since AN is not available to me in bulk like DBSP, but KNO3 is freely available aswell as xylene, do you think that PNX would work like CNX may?
That may have been confusing but the gist of it was what DBSP was asking but with KNO3.

[kingspaz]

i doubt it would work that well but in my opinion if you used strong confinement and a large booster it should work to some extent.

[Blackhawk]

Would I be right to think that something significantly more sensetive than KNO3 would work better, like KClO3. I heard somewhere that it was either alkali based oxidiesers or nitrate oxidisers that are detonatable, which is it?

[knowledgehungry]

NaCl is an oxidizer, but it doesnt detonate. So my guess is that is the nitrates, but then again CaNO3 isnt detonatable IIRC.

[kingspaz]

he means NaClO3.
chlorates will work. search on the forum for chedites/cheddites (can't remember how its spelt). they are a detonable mixture of fuel and chlorate. they are relatively easy to detonate too so they are pretty useful. the only real disadvantage of these over AN comps is that they have an even lower VoD! typically around 1700-2700 (figures are from my ass so don't quote me on it).

[Mr Cool]

Mate, check out COPAE! It has quite a good section on chlorate explosives. Some go up to 5 km/sec, but not the simple chlorate/inert fuel ones.
KClO3/MNN (80:20), without the castor oil as a phlegmatiser/desensitiser, is detonatable by a #1 cap (!!) and is considered too sensitive for commercial use, and is somewhere around 3 km/sec. Interestingly, a modest amount of NG makes it harder to detonate, yet significantly more powerful and brisant.
All the compositions listed in COPAE seem to work best at about 1.3-1.4 g/cm3.

However, they have less gas output than AN based explosives. I imagine that they could make good booster charges for higher density ANFO's etc if NM is unavailable for ANNM.

[knowledgehungry]

No i meant NaCl, it is an oxidizer, just not a pyrotechnic one. Oxidizers dont have to donate oxygen, in some reactions NaCl is an oxidizer, my point is the term oxidizer is far too broad a term.

[DBSP]

knowledgehungry, Ca(NO3)2 does detonate, the only problem is it's low sensitivity. Try mixing up a 10% CaNAP charge and detonate it with a 2g cap and you'll see that it's not that hard to detonate it of mixed with AP. CNNM has also been tried successfully, can't remamber by who though, run a search for CNNM and I belive you might find the thread I'm reffering to(an archive file I belive).

Still no one with any info on AN/CN-xylene??

[User Name]

The ammoium nitrate i use is 34-0-0 furtelizer. it completely disolves in water so i dont think there is any wax.
i bought 40pounds of it for 12 bucks :) Is this the corect AN to use? has anyone had any experiance with acetone for a sensitizer? Ive searched the forum from A-Z and havent found info i need.......

[Arthis]

34-0-0 fertilizer should be quite pure AN, but the fact all dissolves doesn't mean there is nothing else in your fertilizer. There may be some additives to slow down combustion in the case people wouldn use the fertilizer to make powders. I posted the exact grade x-0-0 of pure AN in another thread, but I don't remember what was the final result of the calculus.

Acetone will work, but may not be the most effective fuel to add to AN.

[DBSP]

User name, visit the ANWAX thread in HE for some info on the use of acetone as a sensitizer for AN. If your AN is 34-0-0 you've got nothing to worry about.

[Desmikes]

Normally 34-0-0 fert contains nitrogen as ammonical and some other kind right, i'm pretty sure it's 17 for both kinds. I always thought that that was nearly pure stuff. Well I just found a new sourse that sells very cheap AN in convenient 1kg packages and it claims to have 37% available Nitrogen. It dissolves readily and works great in general, but has anyone else heard of such nitrogen content in fert?

[Guerilla]

Here the nitrogen content in fertilizers is marked as ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen, the sum of these values is total nitrogen content, which is usually marked on the bag.

Dividing the total N value in your fertilizer by proportion of nitrogen in 100% AN, which is 28 / 80 = 35, will give you the amount of pure AN in your fert. It can also be calculated same ways from ammonium or nitrate nitrogen, if total N is not given.

I dont know what that "37% available nitrogen" would be.. maybe the excess nitrogen comes as nitrate nitrogen from some other nitrate, or as NH4 from ammonium sulphate..? :rolleyes:

The purest AN fertilizer here is 26-0-0, so its only 26 / 35 x 100 = 74% AN, pain in the arse to purify but works. Although I've read it (as anfo) would be detonable as-is without a purification, with a decent booster.

[Xioa]

I recently downloaded KIFE and their procedure to make activated ammonium nitrate involves cooking the AN WITH the fuel. Does this really help activating the AN or is it just an unnecessary danger?

[tom haggen]

Wouldn't mixing Nitroglycerin with Ammonium Nitrate create a very unstable composition? The reason I ask is because when reading about nitroglycerin sytheses, I notice how important it is to have neutralized your nirtoglycerin. Well Ammonium Nitrate has a low ph level. So wouldn't that make your nitroglycerin acidic all over again?

[nuclearattack]

To Xioa:

Of course adding a fuel to AN will sensitize it but it is not dangerous. An ANFO mixture is extremely hard to detonate (at maximum vod i mean) it always requires a strong detonator to reach the maximum power. Anfo is very safe don't worry about it! The only matter you will have with it is to reach a good detonation.

To Tom haggen:

i think that adding AN to NG will sensitize it but not too much. In my experience with AN/NG mixtures i didn't have any trouble, it worked well and safely but i asked myself your question lot of time. However i minimize the risk making ammonia dynamite just few hours before detonating it.

[Bert]

Wouldn't mixing Nitroglycerin with Ammonium Nitrate create a very unstable composition?
Tom, litteraly millions of tons of such explosives have been made and used commercialy as active base dynamites. Go look in COPAE for formulations- Anything that is used in such quantity commercialy is reasonably safe...

[MrMagnum]

Today I shot a few loads of cap sensitive ANFO. These were eight shots of 50 kg each. The ANFO was Dynaplex 94N. It consists of ammonium nitrate, fuel oil, wheat and micro balloons.

These shots were extremely loud!!

[Bert]

It consists of ammonium nitrate, fuel oil, wheat and micro balloons.

What proportion of microballoons is needed to sensitize such a mix? What should the mesh size of the ammonium nitrate be?

[MrMagnum]

The mesh size is really small, but I can't tell you an exact number. There is a certain percentage of micro balloons used, so that the density is 0,9 g/ccm.

The combination of a very small mesh size and micro balloons make Dynaplex 94N a cap sensitive explosive.

[TheArsenist]

I have 34-0-0 AN fertilizer which is 98.6% pure AN. It is prilled (about 1mm in diameter) and I don't know if its covered with wax or something else. The bag says it contains 0.2% Magnesium which could be part of the chemical composition of the moisture cover since such a small amount of Mg is otherwise pointless to put in an fertilizer in my opiniun.

The 37-0-0 fertilizer could be Urea instead of AN, or a mixture of Urea and AN. Urea is also a pure N fertilizer and 100% pure Urea is 46.6-0-0 in fertilizer terms, so the 37-0-0 could be 79% pure Urea or a mixture of Urea and AN. Urea in itself is no good as an explosive but it can be made into Urea Nitrate by using HNO3 (as used in the first WTC bombing).

How large a AP charge do you need to set off a ANFO charge (meshed AN with 5% diesel fuel) in a 3'' * 5'' pvc pipe? I imagine placing the AP charge in a smaller PVC pipe and inserting it into the middle of the larger pipe.

btw, does somebody know a smart way of meshing the AN prills? I've heard about using an electrical coffee grinder but I don't have one at my disposal.