No need to check ammonium nitrate

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Dave Taylor
I needed to plan to carry an ice pack on an international flight, so I looked it up and was a tad surprised to find we can carry NH4NO3 in the cabin.
Quite certainly, I need a lesson in chemistry!
I suppose the cool packs are in a non-explosive form.
ah, reading up on it says it needs an additive to be explosive....and one of them is aluminum dust!
Still, seems odd.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I needed to plan to carry an ice pack on an international flight, so I looked it up and was a tad surprised to find we can carry NH4NO3 in the cabin.
Quite certainly, I need a lesson in chemistry!
I suppose the cool packs are in a non-explosive form.
ah, reading up on it says it needs an additive to be explosive....and one of them is aluminum dust!
Still, seems odd.
Click to expand...

Well, if the plane gets disintegrated you may have some aluminum dust, but it would be a moot point by then
 
Ammonium nitrate by itself is not explosive and even if it was, you would need a high energy detonator to set if off. But it is not so it won’t. I guess even TSA has a limitation to its stupidity. Whooda thunk
 
In theory, aren't cropdusters flying with ammonium nitrate all the time?
 
Well, are you allowed to carry diesel fuel too ?
Then all you need is the tools to dehydrate and concentrate the AN and some blasting caps.
 
Sluggo63 said:
ahh... I think you mean a “moo” point.
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giphy.gif
 
I once worked at a dynamite factory (Apache Powder company) which made a version of ammonium nitrate called Carbamite. It also contained some carbon and oil but blasting caps would not set it off. It also needed dynamite.
 
The ammonium nitrate is dissolved in water, either as an instant cold pack or as a pre-frozen pack, so I doubt it can do much wetted down. Dried ammonium nitrate needs something to oxidize before it can do much either, as hinted at, in the posts above.
 
Non coated ammonium nitrate prills + 400 micron german black aluminum powder + titanium sponge + sulfur = tannerite

Just sayin.... :cool:
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I needed to plan to carry an ice pack on an international flight, so I looked it up and was a tad surprised to find we can carry NH4NO3 in the cabin.
Quite certainly, I need a lesson in chemistry!
I suppose the cool packs are in a non-explosive form.
ah, reading up on it says it needs an additive to be explosive....and one of them is aluminum dust!
Still, seems odd.
Click to expand...
I always have them for my knee, and I have been traveling frequently. I don't know if they show up as anything on the x-ray, but if they do, some screeners can identify them and some can't. I have twice had them pull my bag and swab the ice packs for residue (they're sealed, duh), and once the x-ray screener told another guy to pull my bag because she was "curious" what was in it. He just looked at them that time; no swabbing. I've never had a problem beyond that.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
The ammonium nitrate is dissolved in water, either as an instant cold pack or as a pre-frozen pack, so I doubt it can do much wetted down. Dried ammonium nitrate needs something to oxidize before it can do much either, as hinted at, in the posts above.
Click to expand...
In the instant packs, the ammonium nitrate isn't dissolved until you break the internal bag separating it from the water. So you could drain the water out and have a little package of dry ammonium nitrate, but I have no idea what you could do with that.
 
Lindberg said:
In the instant packs, the ammonium nitrate isn't dissolved until you break the internal bag separating it from the water. So you could drain the water out and have a little package of dry ammonium nitrate, but I have no idea what you could do with that.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are correct, the internal pack need to be broken before it would work to make things cold. As for what you could do with it, it depends on which ice pack you have. You may have the one with urea instead of ammonium nitrate. You still need something for the ammonium nitrate to oxidize and they need to be mixed together pretty well.


azblackbird said:
Non coated ammonium nitrate prills + 400 micron german black aluminum powder + titanium sponge + sulfur = tannerite

Just sayin.... :cool:
Click to expand...
You're missing a few components for it's intended purpose, those ingredients won't do much on their own:cool:
 
Wasn't there a huge explosion many years ago when a burning ship in the harbor of Texas City blew up? Wasn't this full of ammonium nitrate? Maybe at some point it will explode in its pure form.
 
Snowmass said:
Wasn't there a huge explosion many years ago when a burning ship in the harbor of Texas City blew up? Wasn't this full of ammonium nitrate? Maybe at some point it will explode in its pure form.
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It wasn't pure. To keep it from caking up, it was mixed with clay, wax, petroleum jelly, and rosin. The organic material made it closer to AMFO. Once you heat it up enough, it starts to decompose too.
 
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