Claims
- 1. Explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills dimensionally stabilized with a hydratable internal additive in an amount of from 0.05 to 2.0% (wt/wt), having a bulk density in the range from 0.80 to 0.96 gm/cm.sup.3, exhibiting a porosity which is set by moisturizing the hydratable internal additive within the prills to 83 to 100% hydration and thermal cycling of the moisturized prills from 1 to 6 times through the IV.fwdarw.III.fwdarw.IV transition cycle and which is such that the prills absorb and retain at least 5% (wt/wt) of a fuel oil, retaining a particulate (prill) hardness of at least 15 kg/cm.sup.2 and having a caking index of less than 1.4 kg/cm.sup.2.
- 2. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 1 wherein said internal additive is magnesium nitrate, calcium nitrate, or a polyphosphate.
- 3. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 1 wherein the internal additive is hydratable magnesium nitrate employed in an amount of 0.1-1.0%, as MgO.
- 4. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 3, wherein the amount of said Mg(NO.sub.3).sub.2 ranges from 0.25-0.55 wt. %.
- 5. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 3, wherein the bulk density is 0.88-0.93 gm/cm.sup.3.
- 6. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 3, wherein said ammonium nitrate prills absorb and retain fuel oil in an amount of at least 6 wt. %.
- 7. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 1, wherein the particulate hardness is at least 25 kg/cm.sup.2.
- 8. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 1, wherein the interparticle Caking Index is less than 0.7 kg/cm.sup.2.
- 9. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 1, wherein the interparticle Caking Index is less than 0.3 kg/cm.sup.2.
- 10. The explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills of claim 1, wherein said produce is coated with a protective coating.
- 11. Explosive-grade ammonium nitrate prills dimensionally stabilized with a hydratable internal additive in an amount of from 0.25 to 0.55% (wt/wt), having a bulk density in the range of from 0.88 to 0.93 gm/cm.sup.3, exhibiting a porosity which is set by moisturizing the hydratable internal additive to 83 to 100% hydration and thermal cycling of the moisturizing prills from 1 to 6 times through the IV.fwdarw.III.fwdarw.IV transition cycle and which is such that the prills absorb and retain at least 6% (wt/wt) of fuel oil, retaining a particulate (prill) hardness of at least 25 kg/cm.sup.2 and having a caking index of less than 0.3 kg/cm.sup.3.
- 12. Explosive-grad ammonium nitrate prills dimensionally stabilized with a hydratable internal additive, prepared by a process comprising:
- moisturizing a fertilizer grade high density ammonium nitrate product containing from 0.05 to 2% (wt/wt) of a hydratable internal additive until sufficient moisture is absorbed such that the molar ratio of water to non-hydrated internal additive is from 83-100% of its highest hydratable state;
- thermally cycling the moisturized ammonium nitrate at least once over the temperature range sufficient to cause the IV.fwdarw.III.fwdarw.IV crystalline transition; and
- drying the resultant ammonium nitrate product to the extent of substantially eliminating any free water not bound as a hydrate with the internal additive from the thermally cycled ammonium nitrate.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 07/034,947 filed Apr. 6, 1987.
US Referenced Citations (15)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
C. J. Dahn et al., Proceedings 6th Conf. Soc. Explosive Engrs., 89-104 (1980). |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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34947 |
Apr 1987 |
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