Editing Ammonal

{{short description|Explosive made of ammonium nitrate and aluminium}}
{{Redirect|Amonite|the fossil|Ammonite}}
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{{Infobox weapon
| name               = Ammonal
| image              = Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt mine (1 July 1916) 1.jpg
| image_size         =
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| caption            =The explosion of 18,400 kilograms (40,600 lb) of ammonal under [[Hawthorn Ridge Redoubt]], 1 July 1916
| origin             = United Kingdom
| type               = Explosive
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| wars               = World War I
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'''Ammonal''' is an [[explosive]] made up of [[ammonium nitrate]] and [[aluminium]] powder. [[TNT]] is added to create T-ammonal which improves properties such as [[brisance]]. The mixture is often referred to as [[Tannerite]], which is a brand of ammonal. 

The ammonium nitrate functions as an [[oxidizer]] and the aluminium as fuel. The use of the relatively cheap ammonium nitrate and aluminium makes it a replacement for pure [[trinitrotoluene|TNT]].

The mixture is affected by humidity because ammonium nitrate is highly [[Hygroscopy|hygroscopic]]. Ammonal's ease of detonation depends on fuel and oxidizer ratios, 95:5 ammonium nitrate and aluminium being fairly sensitive, however not very oxygen balanced. Even copper metal traces are known to sensitize bulk amounts of ammonium nitrate and further increase danger of spontaneous detonation during a fire, most likely due to the formation of [[tetramine]]s. More oxygen balanced mixtures are not easily detonated, requiring a fairly substantial shock, though it remains more sensitive than [[trinitrotoluene]] and [[C-4 (explosive)|C-4]].

The [[detonation velocity]] of ammonal is approximately {{convert|4,400|m/s|ft/s|disp=or}}.

==History==
From early 1916, the [[British Army]] employed ammonal for their [[Military mining|mines]] during [[World War I]], starting with the [[Hawthorn Ridge mine]] during the [[Battle of the Somme]], and reaching a zenith in the [[Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)|mines in the Battle of Messines]] which were exploded on 7 June 1917 at the start of the [[Third Battle of Ypres]] (also known as the Battle of Passchendaele). Several of the mines in the [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Battle of Messines]] contained 30,000&nbsp;lbs (over 13.6 [[tonne]]s) of ammonal, and others contained 20,000&nbsp;lbs (over 9 tonnes). The joint explosion of the ammonal mines beneath the German lines at Messines created 19 large craters, killing 10,000 German soldiers in one of the [[Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions|largest non-nuclear explosions]] in history. Not all of the [[Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)|mines laid by the British Army at Messines]] were detonated, however. Two mines were not ignited in 1917 because they had been abandoned before the battle, and four were outside the area of the offensive. On 17 July 1955, a [[lightning]] strike set off one of these four latter mines. There were no human casualties, but one cow was killed. Another of the unused mines is believed to have been found in a location beneath a farmhouse,<ref>{{cite news | last = Tweedie  | first = N. | title = Farmer who is sitting on a bomb | work= [[The Daily Telegraph]] | date = 2004-01-12 | access-date = 2010-05-17 | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/1451468/Farmer-who-is-sitting-on-a-bomb.html }}</ref> but no attempt has been made to remove it.

Ammonal used for military mining purposes was generally contained within metal cans or rubberised bags to prevent moisture ingress problems. The composition of ammonal used at Messines was 65% ammonium nitrate, 17% aluminium, 15% [[trinitrotoluene]] (TNT), and 3% [[charcoal]].<ref>{{cite book | author = Brown, G. I. | year = 1998 | title = The Big Bang: A History of Explosives | publisher = Sutton Publishing | isbn = 0-7509-1878-0 | page = [https://archive.org/details/bigbanghistoryof00brow/page/163 163] | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/bigbanghistoryof00brow/page/163 }}</ref> Ammonal remains in use as an industrial explosive. Typically, it is used for [[quarry]]ing or [[mining]] purposes.

[[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]], a [[Basque nationalism|Basque]] separatist organisation, used 250&nbsp;kg of ammonal in a [[car bomb]] in its [[1987 Zaragoza Barracks bombing|attack on the Zaragoza barracks]] on 11 December 1987 in [[Zaragoza]], Spain.<ref>{{cite news | last = García | first = Gema | title = 32 años del atentado de la casa cuartel de Zaragoza |trans-title=32 years since the Zaragoza barracks bombing |lang=es| work = [[El País]] | date = 2017-12-11 | access-date = 2020-02-23 | url = https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/12/05/album/1512466983_065403.html#foto_gal_1}}</ref>

==Proportions==
A T-ammonal mixture previously used in [[hand grenade]]s and [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] has the proportions (by mass):<ref>{{cite book | last = Chamberlain | first = J. S. | year = 1921 | title = A Textbook of Organic Chemistry | location = Philadelphia | publisher = P. Blankiston's Son & Co | oclc = 245530036 | url = https://archive.org/details/atextbookorgani01chamgoog | page = [https://archive.org/details/atextbookorgani01chamgoog/page/n582 534] | access-date = 2010-05-17 }}</ref>
* ammonium nitrate 58.6%
* aluminium powder 21%
* charcoal 2.4%
* TNT 18%

==See also==
* [[Amatol]]
* [[ANFO]] 
* [[BLU-82]] "Daisy Cutter"
* [[Tritonal]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:Explosives]]