Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula NH4NO3.

It is a white
crystalline solid consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water
and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is predominantly used
in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertilizer.[4] Global production was estimated at 21.6 million
tonnes in 2017.
Its other major use is as a component of explosive mixtures used in mining, quarrying, and civil
construction. It is the major constituent of ANFO, a popular industrial explosive which accounts
for 80% of explosives used in North America; similar formulations have been used in improvised
explosive devices.
Many countries are phasing out its use in consumer applications due to concerns over its
potential for misuse.[5] Accidental ammonium nitrate explosions have killed thousands of people
since the early 20th century.

Occurrence
Ammonium nitrate is found as the natural mineral gwihabaite – the ammonium analogue
of saltpetre – in the driest regions of the Atacama Desert in Chile, often as a crust on the ground
or in conjunction with other nitrate, iodate, and halide minerals. Ammonium nitrate was mined
there in the past,[when?] but virtually 100% of the chemical now used is synthetic.

Production, reactions and crystalline phases

The industrial production of ammonium nitrate entails the acid-base
reaction of ammonia with nitric acid:[6]
HNO3 + NH3 → NH4NO3
Ammonia is used in its anhydrous form (a gas) and the nitric acid is concentrated. The
reaction is violent owing to its highly exothermic nature. After the solution is formed, typically
at about 83% concentration, the excess water is evaporated off to leave an ammonium
nitrate (AN) content of 95% to 99.9% concentration (AN melt), depending on grade. The AN
melt is then made into "prills" or small beads in a spray tower, or into granules by spraying
and tumbling in a rotating drum. The prills or granules may be further dried, cooled, and then
coated to prevent caking. These prills or granules are the typical AN products in commerce.
The ammonia required for this process is obtained by the Haber process from nitrogen and
hydrogen. Ammonia produced by the Haber process can be oxidized to nitric acid by
the Ostwald process. Another production method is a variant of the nitrophosphate process:
Ca(NO3)2  + 2 NH3 + CO2 + H2O → 2 NH4NO3 + CaCO3
The products, calcium carbonate and ammonium nitrate, may be separately purified or
sold combined as calcium ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium nitrate can also be made via metathesis reactions:
 + Ba(NO3)2 → 2 NH4NO3 + BaSO4
(NH4)2SO4

NH4Cl + AgNO3 → NH4NO3 + AgCl

Reactions
As ammonium nitrate is a salt, both the cation, NH4+, and the anion, NO3−, may
take part in chemical reactions.
Solid ammonium nitrate decomposes on heating. At temperatures below around
300 °C, the decomposition mainly produces nitrous oxide and water:
NH4NO3 → N2O + 2H2O
At higher temperatures, the following reaction predominates.[7]
2NH4NO3 → 2N2 + O2 + 4H2O
Both decomposition reactions are exothermic and their products are
gas. Under certain conditions, this can lead to a runaway reaction, with
the decomposition process becoming explosive.[8] See § disasters for
details. Many ammonium nitrate disasters, with loss of lives, have
occurred.
The red–orange colour in an explosion cloud is due to nitrogen dioxide,
a secondary reaction product.[8]

Crystalline phases
A number of crystalline phases of ammonium nitrate have been
observed. The following occur under atmospheric pressure.

Phase Temperature (°C) Symmetry

(liquid
(above 169.6)
)

I 169.6 to 125.2 cubic

II 125.2 to 84.2 tetragonal

III 84.2 to 32.3 α-rhombic

IV 32.3 to −16.8 β-rhombic

V below −16.8 tetragonal[9]

Both the β-rhombic to α-rhombic forms are potentially present at

ambient temperature in many parts of the world but have a 3.6%
difference in density. As a result, this phase transition and attending
change of volume, with the practical consequence that ammonium
nitrate formed as solid rocket motor propellant develops cracks. For
this reason, phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) which
incorporates metal halides as stabilisers has been investigated.[10]

Applications
Fertilizer
Ammonium nitrate is an important fertilizer with NPK rating 34-0-0
(34% nitrogen).[11] It is less concentrated than urea (46-0-0), giving
ammonium nitrate a slight transportation disadvantage. Ammonium
nitrate's advantage over urea is that it is more stable and does not
rapidly lose nitrogen to the atmosphere.
Explosives
Ammonium nitrate is an ingredient in certain explosives. Examples
of explosives containing ammonium nitrate include:

 Astrolite (ammonium nitrate and hydrazine rocket fuel)

 Amatol (ammonium nitrate and TNT)
 Ammonal (ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder)
 Amatex (ammonium nitrate, TNT and RDX)
 ANFO (ammonium nitrate and fuel oil)
 DBX (ammonium nitrate, RDX, TNT and aluminum powder)
 Tovex (ammonium nitrate and methylammonium nitrate)
 Minol (explosive) ((ammonium nitrate, TNT and aluminum
powder)
 Goma-2 (ammonium nitrate, nitroglycol, Nitrocellulose, Dibutyl
phthalate and fuel)
Mixture with fuel oil
Main article: ANFO

ANFO is a mixture of 94% ammonium nitrate ("AN") and 6% fuel

oil ("FO") widely used as a bulk industrial explosive.[12]:1 It is used
in coal mining, quarrying, metal mining, and civil construction in
undemanding applications where the advantages of ANFO's low
cost and ease of use matter more than the benefits offered by
conventional industrial explosives, such as water resistance,
oxygen balance, high detonation velocity, and performance in small
diameters.[12]:2
Terrorism
Ammonium nitrate-based explosives were used in the Sterling Hall
bombing in Madison, Wisconsin, 1970, the Oklahoma City
bombing in 1995, the 2011 Delhi bombings, the 2011 bombing in
Oslo, and the 2013 Hyderabad blasts.
In November 2009, the government of the North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) of Pakistan imposed a ban on ammonium sulfate,
ammonium nitrate, and calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizers in the
former Malakand Division – comprising the Upper Dir, Lower
Dir, Swat, Chitral, and Malakand districts of the NWFP – following
reports that those chemicals were used by militants to make
explosives. Due to these bans, "Potassium chlorate – the stuff that
makes safety matches catch fire – has surpassed fertilizer as the
explosive of choice for insurgents."[13]

Niche uses
Ammonium nitrate is used in some instant cold packs, as its
dissolution in water is highly endothermic. It also was used, in
combination with independently explosive "fuels" such as guanidine
nitrate,[14][15] as a cheaper (but less stable) alternative to 5-
aminotetrazole in the inflators of airbags manufactured by Takata
Corporation, which were recalled as unsafe after killing 14 people.[16]
A solution of ammonium nitrate with nitric acid called Cavea-
b showed promise for use in spacecraft as a more energetic
alternative to the common monopropellant hydrazine. A number of
trials were carried out in the 1960s but the substance was not
adopted by NASA.

Safety, handling, and storage

Numerous safety guidelines are available for storing and handling
ammonium nitrate. Health and safety data are shown on the safety
data sheets available from suppliers and from various governments.
[17][18][19]

Pure ammonium nitrate does not burn, but as a strong oxidizer, it

supports and accelerates the combustion of organic (and some
inorganic) material.[17][20][21] It should not be stored near combustible
substances.
While ammonium nitrate is stable at ambient temperature and
pressure under many conditions, it may detonate from a strong
initiation charge. It should not be stored near high explosives or
blasting agents.
Molten ammonium nitrate is very sensitive to shock and detonation,
particularly if it becomes contaminated with incompatible materials
such as combustibles, flammable liquids, acids, chlorates,
chlorides, sulfur, metals, charcoal and sawdust.[22][17]
Contact with certain substances such as chlorates, mineral
acids and metal sulfides, can lead to vigorous or even violent
decomposition capable of igniting nearby combustible material or
detonating.[23][24]
Ammonium nitrate begins decomposition after melting,
releasing NO
x, HNO3, NH
3 and H2O. It should not be heated in a confined space.  The
[17]

resulting heat and pressure from decomposition increases the

sensitivity to detonation and increases the speed of decomposition.
Detonation may occur at 80 atmospheres. Contamination can
reduce this to 20 atmospheres.[22]
Ammonium nitrate has a critical relative humidity of 59.4%, above
which it will absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Therefore, it is
important to store ammonium nitrate in a tightly sealed container.
Otherwise, it can coalesce into a large, solid mass. Ammonium
nitrate can absorb enough moisture to liquefy. Blending ammonium
nitrate with certain other fertilizers can lower the critical relative
humidity.[25]
The potential for use of the material as an explosive has prompted
regulatory measures. For example, in Australia, the Dangerous
Goods Regulations came into effect in August 2005 to enforce
licensing in dealing with such substances.[26] Licenses are granted
only to applicants (industry) with appropriate security measures in
place to prevent any misuse.[27] Additional uses such as education
and research purposes may also be considered, but individual use
will not. Employees of those with licenses to deal with the
substance are still required to be supervised by authorized
personnel and are required to pass a security and national police
check before a license may be granted.

Health hazards
Health and safety data are shown on the material safety data
sheets, which are available from suppliers and can be found on the
internet.[28]
Ammonium nitrate is not hazardous to health and is usually used in
fertilizer products.[28][29][30]
Ammonium nitrate has an LD50 of 2217 mg/kg,[31] which for
comparison is about two-thirds that of table salt.

Disasters
Main article: List of ammonium nitrate disasters

Ammonium nitrate decomposes, non-explosively, into

the gases nitrous oxide and water vapor when heated. However, it
can be induced to decompose explosively by detonation.[32] Large
stockpiles of the material can also be a major fire risk due to their
supporting oxidation, a situation which can easily escalate to
detonation. Explosions are not uncommon: relatively minor
incidents occur most years, and several large and devastating
explosions have also occurred. Examples include the Oppau
explosion of 1921 (one of the largest artificial non-nuclear
explosions), the Texas City disaster of 1947, the 2015 Tianjin
explosions in China, and the 2020 Beirut explosions.[33]
Ammonium nitrate can explode through two mechanisms:

 Shock-to-detonation transition. An explosive charge within or in

contact with a mass of ammonium nitrate causes the
ammonium nitrate to detonate. Examples of such disasters
are Kriewald, Morgan (present-day Sayreville, New
Jersey), Oppau, and Tessenderlo.
 Deflagration to detonation transition. The ammonium nitrate
explosion results from a fire that spreads into the ammonium
nitrate (Texas City, TX; Brest; West, TX; Tianjin; Beirut), or from
ammonium nitrate mixing with a combustible material during the
fire (Repauno, Cherokee, Nadadores). The fire must be
confined at least to a degree for successful transition from a fire
to an explosion.