ANFO

ANFO
ANFO (or AN/FO, for ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) is a widely used bulk industrial explosive mixture. It consists of 94 percent porous prilled ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), (AN) that acts as the oxidizing agent and absorbent for the fuel six percent number 2 fuel oil (FO).[1] ANFO has found wide use in coal mining, quarrying, metal mining, and civil construction in undemanding applications where the advantages of ANFO's low cost and ease of use matter more than the benefits offered by conventional industrial explosives, such as water resistance, oxygen balance, high detonation velocity, and performance in small diameters.[2] It accounts for an estimated 80% of the 6,000,000,000 pounds (kg) of explosives used annually in North America.[3] The press and other media have used the term ANFO loosely and imprecisely in describing IEDs, in cases of fertilizer bombs.[4]

Ammonium nitrate prills used in ANFO at a potash mine by the K+S AG

Chemistry
ANFO under most conditions is cap-insensitive, and so it is classified as a blasting agent[5] and not a high explosive;[6] 25-kilogram (lb) sacks containing ANFO it decomposes through detonation rather than deflagration with a moderate velocity of about 3,200 meters per second in 5-inch diameter, unconfined, at ambient temperature. It is a tertiary explosive consisting of distinct fuel and oxidizer phases and requires confinement for efficient detonation and brisance. Because it is cap-insensitive, it generally requires a primer,[7] also known as a booster (e.g., one or two sticks of dynamite, as historically used, or in more recent times, Tovex or cast boosters of pentolite (TNT)/PETN or similar compositions) to ensure continuation of the detonation wave-train.[8] The chemistry of ANFO detonation is the reaction of ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) with a long chain alkane (CnH2n+2) to form nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water. In an ideal stoichiometrically balanced reaction, ANFO is composed of approximately 94.3% AN and 5.7% FO by weight. The normal ratio recommended is 2 U.S. quarts of fuel oil per 50 pounds of ammonium nitrate (80 ml/kg). In practice, a slight excess of fuel oil is added, i.e., 2.5 to 3 quarts of fuel oil per 50 pounds of ammonium nitrate, as underdosing results in reduced performance while overdosing merely results in more post-blast fumes.[9] When detonation conditions are optimal, the aforementioned gases are the only products. In practical use, such conditions are impossible to attain, and blasts produce moderate

ANFO amounts of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Industrial use
Ammonium nitrate is widely used as a fertilizer in the agricultural industry. In many countries its purchase and use is restricted to buyers who have obtained the proper license. This restriction is primarily because it is an attractive and simple component used in the production of fertilizer bombs. In the mining industry, the term ANFO specifically describes a mixture of solid ammonium nitrate prills and heating oil. In this form, it has a bulk density of approximately 840kg/m3. The density of individual prills is about 1300kg/m3, while the density of pure crystalline ammonium nitrate is 1700kg/m3. AN prills used for explosive applications are physically different from fertilizer prills; the former contain approximately 20% air. These versions of ANFO which use prills are generally called explosives grade, low density, or industrial grade ammonium nitrate. These voids are necessary to sensitize ANFO: they create so-called "hot spots".[10] Finely powdered aluminium can be added to ANFO to increase both sensitivity and energy; however, this has fallen out of favor due to cost. Other additions include perlite, chemical gassing agents, or glass air bubbles to create these voids.[11] AN is highly hygroscopic, readily absorbing water from air. It is dangerous when stored in humid environments, as any absorbed water interferes with its explosive function. AN is also water soluble. When used in wet mining conditions, considerable effort must be taken to dewater boreholes. Other explosives based on the ANFO chemistry exist; the most commonly used are emulsions. They differ from ANFO in the physical form the reactants take. The most notable properties of emulsions are water resistance and higher bulk density. The popularity of ANFO is largely attributable to its low cost and high stability. In most jurisdictions, ammonium nitrate need not be classified as an explosive for transport purposes; it is merely an oxidizer. Many mines prepare ANFO on-site using the same diesel fuel that powers their vehicles, although heating oil, which is nearly identical, may cost less than diesel fuel due to lower fuel tax. Many fuels can theoretically be used; the low volatility and cost of fuel oil makes it ideal.

Disasters
Unmixed ammonium nitrate can decompose explosively and has been responsible for industrial disasters, such as the Texas City disaster in Texas City in 1947 and the Ryongchon disaster in North Korea in 2004. Environmental hazards include eutrophication in confined waters and nitrate/gas oil contamination of ground or surface water.[12]

Malicious use
ANFO was first used in 1970 by student protesters at the University of WisconsinMadison, who learned how to make and use ANFO from a Wisconsin Conservation Department booklet entitled Pothole Blasting for Wildlife.[9][13] The ANFO car bomb was adopted by the Provisional IRA in 1972 and, by 1973, the Troubles were consuming 47,000lbs of ammonium nitrate being used for the majority of bombs.[14] ANFO was used for the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing. It has also seen use by groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), ETA, and Ramzi Yousef's terrorists when they first tried to destroy the World Trade Center in 1993. A more sophisticated variant of ANFO (ammonium nitrate with nitromethane as the fuel called ANNM) was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Improvised bombs made with agricultural-grade AN are less sensitive and less efficient than the explosive-grade variety. In November 2009, a ban on ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizers was imposed in the former Malakand Division comprising the Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swat, Chitral and Malakand districts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, by the NWFP government, following reports that those chemicals were used by militants to make explosives.

ANFO In April 2010, police in Greece confiscated 180 kilograms of ANFO and other related material stashed in a hideaway in the Athens suburb of Kareas. The material was believed to be linked to attacks previously carried out by the "Revolutionary Struggle" terrorist group. In January 2010, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan also issued a decree banning the use, production, storage, purchase or sale of ammonium nitrate, after an investigation showed that militants in the Taliban insurgency had used the substance in bomb attacks.[15][16][17] On 22 July 2011, an aluminium-powder enriched ANNM explosive, with total size of 950kg (150kg of aluminum powder), increasing demolition power by 10-30 percent over plain ANFO, was used in the Oslo bombing.[18][19]

ANNM
ANNM, or ammonium nitrate and nitromethane, is one of the most powerful improvised types of AN-based explosives. The relative effectiveness factor of ANNM varies depending on the mix but does not exceed 1 (annmal = RE 1-1.1). ANNM usually contains a 60:40 (kinepak) mix of AN and NM (60% ammonium nitrate, 40% nitromethane by mass), though this results in a wet slurry. Sometimes more AN is added to reduce liquidity and make it easier to store and handle, as well as providing an oxygen-balanced mix. ANNM is also more sensitive to shock than standard ANFO and is therefore easier to detonate. When ANNM detonates, the primary byproducts produced are H2O, CO2 and N2, but NOx and other toxic gases are inevitably formed because of a negative oxygen balance. The balanced equation is as follows: 3NH4NO3 + 2CH3NO2 -> 4N2 + 2CO2 + 9H2O Depending on the detonation impetus (for example a #6 versus a #10 detonator), the products of the detonation can be decidedly unstoichiometric.

References
[1] Cook, Melvin A. The Science of Industrial Explosives IRECO Chemicals, 1974, page 1. [2] Cook, Melvin A. The Science of Industrial Explosives IRECO Chemicals, 1974, page 2. [3] "Explosives regulation in the USA Industrial Minerals no.465, June 2006, pp.78. Published by Industrial Minerals" (http:/ / www. crowell. com/ documents/ DOCASSOCFKTYPE_ARTICLES_408. pdf) [4] Jo Thomas (29 September 1997). "Jury to Be Picked in 2d Oklahoma Bomb Trial". The New York Times. [5] Cook, Melvin A. The Science of Industrial Explosives IRECO Chemicals, 1974, p. 16. [6] http:/ / www. osha. gov/ pls/ oshaweb/ owadisp. show_document?p_id=9755& p_table=STANDARDS [7] E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company Blasters' Handbook Fifteenth Edition, (c)1966, page 64-68. [8] http:/ / www. globalsecurity. org/ military/ systems/ munitions/ explosives-anfo. htm [9] Mathiak, Harold A. (1965). Pothole Blasting for Wildlife. Wisconsin Conservation Department, Madison, Wisconsin 53701. p.11. [10] It was found by the IRA, in response to using low brisance AN fertilizers, that "hot spots" can be created by blending powdered sugar into the ANFO mixture, effectively sensitizing the mixture to mining-standard prilled ammonium nitrate effectiveness in which the interaction of the detonation front with a spherical void concentrates energy. Blasting-grade AN prills are typically between 0.9 and 3.0 mm in diameter. [11] Mine Health & Safety Management, Michael Karmis [12] P Cosgrove. Ammogex Material Safety Data Sheet, Document No: HS-MSDS-03, Irish Industrial Explosives Ltd [13] Mike Davis, Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb (Verso: New York, 2007): 53. [14] Henry Stanhope, The will to blow the lid off Ulster still remains strong, The Times, Friday, 8 November 1974 [15] timesunion.com (http:/ / www. timesunion. com/ ASPStories/ story. asp?StoryID=720948) "Afghanistan bans chemical used to make bombs Afghanistan bans fertilizer chemical commonly used to make bombs; protesters denounce killings". [16] guardian.co.uk (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ world/ feedarticle/ 8910984) "Afghanistan bans chemical used to make bombs". [17] nytimes.com (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2009/ 11/ 11/ world/ asia/ 11afghan. html) "Bomb Material Cache Uncovered in Afghanistan". [18] "Slik virket trykkblgen etter bomben(norwegian) supplier" (http:/ / www. nrk. no/ nyheter/ 1. 7726208). NRK. 28 July 2011. . Retrieved 28 July 2011. [19] Stigset, Marianne; Kremer, Josiane; Treloar, Stephen (27 July 2011). "Police in Norway Extend Terror Probe Across Europe After Breivik Attacks" (http:/ / www. bloomberg. com/ news/ 2011-07-27/ norway-police-spreads-breivik-terror-probe-europe-wide-after-twin-attacks. html). Bloomberg. .

ANFO

External links
Video of ANFO being used at an open pit mine (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=71c_1182663536) Video showing detonation of a 5 kg ANFO charge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccQ9vkLrvfo)

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