Webinar: Unraveling the Mysteries of Ammonium Nitrate Detonations
March 31, 2021 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT
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About the Webinar
The webinar provides process safety professionals working with ammonium nitrate (AN) prevention processes to implement to prevent disastrous and tragic events.
Ammonium nitrate is used widely as a nitrogen fertilizer and as an additive when manufacturing explosives. It can be found naturally as a mineral and is produced by reacting anhydrous ammonia with nitric acid and dried to form small beads/prills. While extremely stable under most conditions, the AN fertilizer is also commonly stored in bulk quantities posing a risk if not properly protected against large fires.
In this webinar, prevention and safety expert Dr. Scott Davis discusses AN incidents in Beirut, Lebanon, Tianjin, China, and West Texas, as well as lessons learned to avoid such incidents in the future. All these events involved unique conditions necessary to turn the relatively stable oxidizer ammonium nitrate into a detonating explosive.
By attending this webinar, you will:
- Understand the unique set of conditions necessary for the explosive decomposition of AN
- Learn how to avoid such conditions to avoid explosive decomposition of AN
- Learn how to prevent tragic and devastating AN explosions
- Learn how advanced blast techniques can help understand the blast
About the Speaker
Dr. Scott Davis, Ph.D., PE, CFEI
CEO – Principal Engineer at Gexcon US
Dr. Scott Davis specializes in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and the engineering analysis and testing of combustion, thermal, and fluid processes. Dr. Davis applies his expertise to the investigation, prevention, and risk assessment of fires, explosions, and dispersion hazards such as flammable vapors and toxic exposures. Dr. Davis is a principal member of the NFPA 59A technical committee and provides key training in Gexcon’s advanced safety courses on major hazards, which includes LNG safety. Dr. Davis has published over 100 papers and is a regular speaker in process safety conferences.
