'Ammonium nitrate can explode if exposed to intense heat'

KUALA LUMPUR: Ammonium nitrate, which is commonly used as a nitrogen-containing fertiliser, can explode if it is exposed to intense heat from a fire.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Chemical Engineering Professor Datuk Dr Wan Ramli Wan Daud said the industrial chemical, also used as explosives for mining, did not burn on its own.

"There was a large fire before the explosion (at a port in Beirut, Lebanon) and it's most likely the initial fire that caused the detonation."

Wan Ramli said the Beirut blast was similar to explosions of large amounts of ammonium nitrate in Tianjin, China, in 2015 and in Texas City, Texas, the United States, in 1947.

He added it could explode if there was a sudden shock caused by an explosion of a detonator or grenade in the ammonium nitrate.

"This is how a terrorist could detonate the ammonium nitrate.

"However, in the Beirut explosion, the security services discounted the possibility of a terrorist attack, and no terrorist organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack."

Lebanese President Michel Aoun (second from left) visiting the site of the massive explosion in Beirut yesterday. -AFP pic
Lebanese President Michel Aoun (second from left) visiting the site of the massive explosion in Beirut yesterday. -AFP pic

Asked about the effects of the explosion on people and environment, Wan Ramli said the reddish-brown coloured gas nitrogen oxide appeared immediately after the explosion.

"The gas may cause respiratory difficulty if people are exposed directly to it.

"It could dissolve in rainwater- forming acid rain that could corrode steel structures.

"It could also cause photochemical smog and depletion of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere for days."

At around midnight Malaysian time on Tuesday, Beirut witnessed a fire followed by a massive blast and shockwave at a warehouse at its port, where the explosive material was believed to have been stored.

The blast triggered destruction across the city and left at least 100 people dead and wounded 4,000 people as search-and-rescue efforts continue.

It was reported that more than 300,000 people were left homeless by the explosion.

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored without safety measures for six years at a warehouse at the port.

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