A large stockpile of ammonium nitrate is believed to have caused the explosion in the Port of Beirut.

An explosion at a warehouse in the Port of Beirut, Lebanon, killed more than 70 people and left more than 4,000 people injured on Tuesday. In the aftermath of the explosion, videos uploaded to social media show plumes of red-brown smoke and the apocalyptic extent of the destruction, with buildings leveled for miles. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Lebanon Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the explosion was fueled by a stockpile of over 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate, confiscated and stored for approximately six years at the port.

The explosive potential of ammonium nitrate is well understood and has been used in numerous terrorist attacks including the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. So what is ammonium nitrate, why is it explosive and why do we use it?

Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound containing the element nitrogen (as well as hydrogen and oxygen) and is commonly used in agriculture as fertilizer. Plants rely on photosynthesis, converting sunlight to energy using chlorophyll. Nitrogen is an essential element for this process and ammonium nitrate is particularly good, compared with other fertilizers, at delivering plants nutrients.
It's also an explosive compound and is used around the world in mining and construction operations requiring detonations. Under normal conditions, the chemical is highly stable. It can explode after exposure to contaminants or fuel oil and then heated, which sets off a cascade of reactions.

When heated to above 170 degrees Fahrenheit, ammonium nitrate begins to undergo decomposition. But with rapid heating or detonation, a chemical reaction can occur that converts ammonium nitrate to nitrogen and oxygen gas and water vapor. The products of the reaction are harmless -- they're found in our atmosphere -- but the process releases huge amounts of energy.
"The idea in making any sort of explosive is to go from a high energy compound to a low energy one," explains Ian Rae, a professor at the University of Melbourne. "The energy given out is what you get as explosive power."
This also requires pressure to build up in a confined space, without being able to dissipate. Burning ammonium nitrate in an open field, for instance, isn't likely to result in an explosion, Rae said.
Additionally, in the explosion, not all of the ammonium nitrate is used up and exploded. Some of it decomposes slowly creating toxic gases like nitrogen oxides. It's these gases that are responsible for the red-brown plume of smoke seen in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, Rae said.

After the fireball erupts in the video above, you can immediately see the shock wave expanding away from the blast. Moisture in the air is quickly condensed, forming a white sphere around the explosion zone. It's not clear what else may have been ignited or exploded in the blast -- or what was stored at the docks -- but Prime Minister Diab is expected to make this information known "soon," according to The Guardian.

Because of ammonium nitrate's explosive potential, countries and unions impose strict regulations on how to store and process it. "It is generally kept under controlled conditions and modified volumes to minimize chances of explosion," says Brent Kaiser, a plant biologist at the University of Sydney. In Australia, the storage and use of ammonium nitrate is monitored to prevent these types of explosions occurring, Kaiser said.


The accidental detonation of ammonium nitrate has resulted in a number of accidents in the last century. In 2015, explosions partly caused by the detonation of around 800 tons of ammonium nitrate rocked the Beijing port of Tianjin, killing 173 people.

An explosion of ammonium nitrate was responsible for the worst industrial accident in US history in 1947. A ship in the harbor of Texas City, Texas, carrying approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire, supposedly via a discarded cigarette, causing a series of explosions that killed 581 people.
Two explosions are said to have rocked the port. Though the causative agent of the larger, second explosion appears to be ammonium nitrate, the full scale of the devastation in Lebanon isn't yet completely understood and an investigation will be performed. "What happened today will not come to pass without accountability," Diab said. He has also announced that Wednesday will be a national day of mourning in the country and the port and surrounding region has been declared a disaster zone.

"This is clearly a very significant explosion, and the reported number of deaths is likely to be far higher than currently identified," said David Caldicott, a senior clinical lecturer in medicine at the Australian National University.

Watch How The Explosion Started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBbsQdIIa0Y

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/beirut-explosion-how-ammonium-nitrate-caused-deadly-blast-in-lebanon/

Source
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/beirut-explosion-how-ammonium-nitrate-caused-deadly-blast-in-lebanon/

So far, more than 100 people have died and over 4000 injured.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ1b62nZgAs

Lalasticlala
Please move to FP.

Many people think this is a terrorist attack.

May we and our families never encounter such.

Sonfethopia:
May we and our families never encounter such.

This world is something else...
Person go de mind en business, next thing na death

My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the explosion, quick recovery to the injured.

Nice one OP

Ok

Damnnnnn niggarrr
Isoright
I thought so...
All these people way run commot for chemistry class for secondary school nor go fit understand explosive nature of ammonium nitrate

DMPaulSr:

This world is something else...
Person go de mind en business, next thing na death

That is why them talk am say for every day we wake we are faced with more than a hundred ways to die

That is the truth humans don't want to hear....and they will always say you are a devil if you tell them
Anyway...I won't blame them because humans hate what they don't understand

May the almighty continue to protect us

Call it ammonium nitrate or ISIS or whatever you like, one thing is certain in life and this is, something must kill a man.


By the way, Year 2020 has officially become the 1001th way to die and coincidentally too, I found out this post is my 1001th post. Isn't life mysterious?

bad

God have mercy

2020 was never a year in the history of humanity!

God help us.

They didn't know before stockpiling it? Well now they've left over 5k persons either dead or injured damn

RIP to the departed souls... And to the injured, i wish you a quick and a speedy recovery....

May God heal the injured!

Chemicals are very powerful.


Don't joke with them.

If Ammonium Nitrate could this, damn, I wonder what ......... would do.
Dont let me put up the name before one idiot starts looking for it for trial

Wow

Really sad

Their economy is in ruins and at the edge of total collapse and being categorised as a failed state.

They've defaulted on their international loan repayments since January and here we have Nigeria (a mono-economy) still borrowing millions and Billions of dollars from China like say tomorrow no dey.

God loves this country called Nigeria. I really pray similar fate does not befall us.

the water splash/displacement save them...if not ,it would have been more disastrous as the city would have been under heavy fire after the explosion.


I really pity Lebanon

No doubt it was caused by ammonium nitrate.


Which was very likely exploited by terrorists!

this is bad

hmmmmmmmm 2020.......