Video said it was ammonium nitrate. Pretty sure it wasn't ammonium nitrate. That sounds like a cover story to me after seeing the explosion.
AN has a pretty low brisance. It "pushes" more than explodes. We used to use it to blow tree stumps out of the ground. That pop in Beirut blew up fast enough to condense the atmosphere around it - that's what that white round cloud was. The shock wave was moving fast enough to condense the moisture in the air into a cloud.
AN has to have additives to explode, like kerosene or diesel fuel, and it has to be mixed right. That was the mixture we used to remove tree stumps, but some Sneaky Petes once told me that with the right additives (they were adding sulfur and some other goodies), it will "make the purdiest mushroom cloud you ever saw!". Who's gonna mix it and then store it with fireworks? It has to have a blasting cap to set it off, but the right firework could do it, if it's set off in the middle of the ANFO pile - not on the edge of it.
The explosion was too big - how are they gonna store THAT much ANFO in a single building? That looked to be in the tens of kilotons range (standard TNT measurement - it would take a LOT more ANFO).
Nope, I'm pretty sure it wasn't ammonium nitrate, but I bet that's the story they run with!
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AN has a pretty low brisance. It "pushes" more than explodes. We used to use it to blow tree stumps out of the ground. That pop in Beirut blew up fast enough to condense the atmosphere around it - that's what that white round cloud was. The shock wave was moving fast enough to condense the moisture in the air into a cloud.
AN has to have additives to explode, like kerosene or diesel fuel, and it has to be mixed right. That was the mixture we used to remove tree stumps, but some Sneaky Petes once told me that with the right additives (they were adding sulfur and some other goodies), it will "make the purdiest mushroom cloud you ever saw!". Who's gonna mix it and then store it with fireworks? It has to have a blasting cap to set it off, but the right firework could do it, if it's set off in the middle of the ANFO pile - not on the edge of it.
The explosion was too big - how are they gonna store THAT much ANFO in a single building? That looked to be in the tens of kilotons range (standard TNT measurement - it would take a LOT more ANFO).
Nope, I'm pretty sure it wasn't ammonium nitrate, but I bet that's the story they run with!
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Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’
Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’