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Author: Subject: Ammonium nitrate solubility in different fuels.
OneEyedPyro
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[*] posted on 15-5-2023 at 20:48


Quote: Originally posted by Bert  
Quote: Originally posted by OneEyedPyro  
Quote: Originally posted by karolus28  
So i did 3 tests of this today.

First was 45g of garden(34N) AN prills and 5 grams of methanol in a tightly closed jar put on in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. It was shaken from time to time, no phase separation - turned into a semi-solid slush. Solidified into chunky bits.

Second test was the same but i added 2,5 mls of water and it turned into a mush and solidified into a few larger chunks.

Third was 18g somewhat dried pulverized AN + 2g of methanol and 3 drops of sulfuric acid. Remained powdery the whole time.

I used ~2,5g of meltcast ETN to initiate them, unfortunetly none of them went off.

[Edited on 13-5-2023 by karolus28]


I made around 100 grams of an unknown ratio of AN, methanol and water. It did detonate with impressive power. My detonator was a bit larger than average and was machine pressed PETN at a relatively high density.

I managed to replicate the solid cake aspect but sadly the main charge only scattered with no apparent detonation. Maybe it was a fluke when I got a full detonation.


Please consider the source of the ammonium nitrate in attempts to recreate first incident- "garden (34N)?
Most AN sold as fertilizer in the West/Europe and much of the rest of the world has been phlegmatized by addition of such things as fly ash, Calcium carbonate and PVA "glue". This has been done specifically to PREVENT easy use in improvised explosives. Were the 2nd and later attempts made with the SAME BATCH OF AN the first (surprisingly brissant explosion) test was made with?


It's from Sonic Boom brand binary targets. I'm confident it's simply blasting grade prilled ammonium nitrate with no anti-caking agents or sensitizers like a perchlorate as seen with 'real' Tannerite.
I used the same AN which came from the same 20lb container except I dried it again for about half an hour at 280F on a tray before my subsequent attempts. The methanol very well may not have been dry but I used the last of it up that day to start a bonfire, it was distilled from windshield washer fluid years ago. The new bottle is definitely just pure methanol.
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