Delivery Of Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer example essay topic

The name of the chemical I was assigned to research is ammonium nitrate, a chemical of many uses. Its chemical formula is NH 4 NO 3 that exists as colorless, rhombohedral crystals at room temperature but changes to mono clinic crystals when heated above 32^0 C. It is extremely soluble in water and soluble in alcohol and liquid ammonia... Its main uses are as an explosive and is used in chemical fertilizers, but is also known to be used as a rocket propellant. Ammonium Nitrate was first discovered in 1659, with is true abilities as an explosive not being recognized until the end of WWI, with the person discovering the synthesis process, Fritz Haber, winning the 1918 nobel prize. It was used throughout the war to supply Germany with explosives.

In 1931, a chemist by the name of Carl Bosch discovered a way to industrialize it, in a process combining hydrogen and nitrogen under extreme high pressure to form ammonia. hydrogen and nitrogen under extreme high pressure to form ammonia. At the end of the war, a large surplus of ammonium nitrate was left when the first ammonia synthesis plant was closed down. A huge pile of the compound was stored in an open field; in attempts to break apart the pile for removal, explosives were drilled into holes in the pile. Contrary to what was expected, the whole mound detonated with a blast of 4,500 tons, killing 600 people. One incident in recent memory that is an example of its destructive power is the bombing of the Alfred P. Murray Federal building on April 19th, 1995. This bombing was commited by Timothy McVeigh, and killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

The last famous example on April 16th 1947, when a French freighter named the SS Grand camp attempted to dock in Texas City, Texas on the Galveston Bay. The ship was making a delivery of ammonium nitrate fertilizer when the deck of the ship caught fire. Oblivious to the dangers of ammonium nitrate, the crew continued to dock. Later that morning, the freighter exploded creating a tidal wave that enveloped the shore and an explosion at kiloton scale.

Many refineries that were located on the waterfront also caught on fire and continued to burn for 6 days after the explosion. It was estimated that a total of 567 people were killed, but it is believed that this number underestimates the total amount of casualties from this incident. Also, it has recently been found to be an effective rocket propellant. After discovering a low cost and non-toxic way of phase stabilizing ammonium nitrate, Dr. O berth worked on improving the performance of ammonium nitrate propellants in the late 1980's. Up until that time, AN propellants had a low specific impulse, were very hard to ignite and burned at a very slow rate.

After a great deal of experimentation, he found that using magnesium powder instead of aluminum powder produced an AN propellant that was easy to ignite, had a good specific impulse and burned at rates over twice that previously recorded with AN propellants. Its last use, in the form of a chemical fertilizer, it is in the form of small clay-coated pellets, which makes the ground extremely hospitibale to plant life.