Abstract
The mixture of ammonium nitrate (AN) prills and fuel oil (FO), usually referred to as ANFO, is extensively used in the mining industry as a bulk explosive. One of the major performance predictors of ANFO mixtures is the fuel oil retention, which is itself governed by the complex pore structure of the AN prills. In this study, we present how X-ray computed tomography (XCT), and the associated advanced data processing workflow, can be used to fully characterise the structure and morphology of AN prills. We show that structural parameters such as volume fraction of the different phases and morphological parameters such as specific surface area and shape factor can be reliably extracted from the XCT data, and that there is a good agreement with the measured oil retention values. Importantly, oil retention measurements (qualifying the efficiency of ANFO as explosives) correlate well with the specific surface area determined by XCT. XCT can therefore be employed non-destructively; it can accurately evaluate and characterise porosity in ammonium nitrate prills, and even predict their efficiency.
Highlights
Prilled/granulated ammonium nitrate (AN) is extensively used in the farming industry as a fertilizer and in the mining industry as an explosive
As we have seen in the preceding sections and as has been reported in the literature, X-ray computed tomography is a method with great potential and is being increasingly used for non
As we have seen in the preceding sections and as has been reported in the literature, X-ray computed tomography is a method with great potential and is being increasingly used for non-destructive materials evaluation, in particular for characterising porosity [23,24,25]
Summary
Prilled/granulated ammonium nitrate (AN) is extensively used in the farming industry as a fertilizer and in the mining industry as an explosive. The term ANFO, for ammonium nitrate/fuel oil, describes a mixture of solid ammonium nitrate prills (see Figure 1a) and diesel fuel. Safety, low cost, simple manufacturing process, and high blasting efficiency, ANFO represents the majority of the explosives used worldwide [1]. To quantify the importance of ammonium nitrate product usage internationally, the world’s total AN production was estimated at 15.3 million tons in 2017 [2], while the global AN market is expected to reach $6.18 billion by 2025 [3]. Materials 2020, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW (a) (b) Figure.
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