Ammonium Nitrate Chemical blamed for the blast in Lebanese capital?

The explosion in Beirut has been blamed on thousands of tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, the chemical used in fertilisers and explosives. Ammonium nitrate, chemically known as NH4NO3, is a salt of ammonia and nitric acid and contains about 33.5% nitrogen. Lebanon’s PM, Hassan Diab, said 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded after it was lying in an unsecured warehouse for 6 years. A ship carrying a similar quantity of the chemical had unloaded its cargo at the Beirut port as far back as 2013.

However, the cause of ignition is still a mystery. Ammonium nitrate is a fairly common industrial chemical used mainly for fertiliser because it is a good source of nitrogen for plants and is also one of the critical chemicals in mining explosives. It is not explosive on its own, rather serves as an oxidiser, drawing oxygen to fire acting as a catalyst. It ignites under specific conditions, and these are not so easy to achieve. “You need extreme circumstances to set off an explosion”, said experts. While the chemical levels in the air should dissipate quick, pollutants that linger can cause acid rain for the time to come. If the 2700 tonne figure is correct, that would make the ammonium nitrate explosion larger than the 1947 Texas City Disaster, when 2300 tonnes of the chemical exploded, killing nearly 500 people. The blast created a 15ft tidal wave

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