A Practical Method to Simulate and Analyze the Consequence of Ammonium Nitrate Explosion Accidents

Several catastrophic ammonium nitrate (AN) explosion accidents have been observed over the last two decades. Previous studies have been mainly focused on investigating adverse effects caused by the AN explosion, while only a few systematically analyzed the consequences and effects of AN blast. The present study collected the data on three ammonium nitrate explosion accidents (accidental explosion of the US fertilizer plant in 2013; an accidental explosion of China's Tianjin port in 2015, and a recent explosion (2020) of the Beirut port in Lebanon) and analyzed the consequences of the accidental explosions through simulation calculation, thus providing a scientific explanation for the AN explosion in media reports. According to the actual damage, it was recommended that the impact of both shock wave overpressure and ground shock on people and buildings should be considered in the accidental explosions. Calculating the shock wave overpressure, ground shock, and the influence distance, and then comparing the calculations with the actual situation can be used as a feasible method in the rapid analysis of the accidental consequences of ammonium nitrate explosion.