Ammonium nitrate thermal decomposition with additives

Runaway reactions present a potentially serious threat to the chemical process industry and the community; such reactions occur time and time again often with devastating consequences. The main objective of this research is to study the root causes associated with ammonium nitrate (AN) explosions during storage. The research focuses on AN fertilizers and studies the effects of different types of fertilizer compatible additives on AN thermal decomposition. Reactive Systems Screening Tool (RSST) has been used for reactivity evaluation and to better understand the mechanisms that result in explosion hazards. The results obtained from this tool have been reported in terms of parameters such as “onset” temperature, rate of temperature and pressure rise and maximum temperature. The runaway behavior of AN has been studied as a solid and solution in water. The effect of additives such as sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄) and potassium chloride (KCl) has also been studied. Multiple tests have been conducted to determine the characteristics of AN decomposition accurately. The results show that the presence of sodium sulfate can increase the “onset” temperature of AN decomposition thus acting as AN thermal decomposition inhibitor, while potassium chloride tends to decrease the “onset” temperature thus acting as AN thermal decomposition promoter.