Emulsion Explosives: The wave of future

For a long time nitroglycerine (NG) based gelatine explosives were the only
products available for blasting in hard rock. Alfred Nobel developed NG
gelatine in the 19th Century. They suffered from defects like headache
during usage, excessive fumes taking long time to clear after blasting, high
hazard of accidental detonation and in some cases very poor water
resistance. In 1950’s slurry explosives were developed which could
overcome all these defects – they were non-headache causing, had low
fumes, excellent water resistance and lower sensitivity to accidental
detonation. However, the blasting performance of slurry explosives did not
match that of NG gelatines. Therefore, many blasters continued to use NG
gelatines. During last one decade or so, emulsion explosives have replaced
slurries.

Slurry Explosives

Slurry (Water gel) explosives are based on saturated aqueous solutions of

AN(usually with sodium nitrate) in which fuels, sanitizers are dispersed. The
liquid phase is thickened with gums and gelled with cross-linking agent to
keep the solids in suspension, provide a satisfactory degree of cohesiveness
and maximize water resistance. When completely gelled, water gels have a
rubbery, porride-like consistency.

Typically slurries are made following the following procedure:

 Pre-dissolving the ammonium nitrate in a small amount of water.
 Thickening the solution with a guargum or starch.
 Adding fuel components as soluble or finely divided insoluble materials
(solid1).
 Adding dry oxidizers to reduce the overall water content (solid2).
 (Optionally) Crosslinking the gum thickeners to produce a gelled product.

Watergels are sensitized by air/gas bubbles and sometimes with other

volatile fuel sensitizers. Energy fuels include aluminium powder and distillate.

The presences of solids (solid 1 and solid 2) as well as the ammonium nitrate
crystals that precipitated upon cooling of the formulation lead to the general
designation of 'slurries' for these composite blasting agents/explosives.

Emulsion Explosives
Due to the presence of solid ingredients in the explosive mixture in case of
Slurries, the intimacy between the fuel and the oxidiser and consequently the
efficiency of the reaction, had still got a lot of room for improvement. Hence
Emulsion-Based products were developed replacing the solid ingredients by
liquid ones. This led to an explosive whose performance was a class above
slurries. An emulsion-Based explosive consists of the following ingredients
Oxidizers that are responsible for "Burning" the mixture generally consist of a
blend of Nitrates viz. Ammonium Nitrate (maximum percentage), Sodium
Nitrate (for lowering the fudge point temperature at which emulsification
occurs), Calcium Nitrate and Zinc Nitrates. Ammonium Nitrate (NH4NO3),
upon combustion breaks down into Nitrogen, Hydrogen and Oxygen, all of
which are gases. Hence, the chemical reaction is much more complete when
oxidizers such as these are used.

Fuels that are the molecules that "Burn" in the mixture comprises of
Hydrocarbons like Paraffin and Microcrystalline Waxes and Oils that form a
continuous medium/phase in the intimate mixture.

Emulsifiers are the agents/surfactants, which keep the above two

components in an intimate bond. The emulsifier molecules are responsible for
keeping the small size oxidizer droplets (typically less than 5 microns)
surrounded firmly and uniformly by the Fuel phase so that the efficiency of
the reaction is maximum.

Figure: Emulsion matrix

Sensitizers are the agents inside an Emulsion-based explosive that render

the hitherto insensitive emulsion an explosive. During the production stage,
this element is added just before the final cartridging of the explosive.
Typical chemical sensitizers used in Emulsions are Nitrites, which fill the
voids between the Fuel-coated Oxidizer droplets with minute air bubbles. The
adiabatic compression of these air bubbles upon the initiation of the
detonation reaction create the "hotspots" which result in the release of
intense amounts of heat and pressure within very short time periods which
both keep the reaction going as well as send enough shock outside the
confinement to break the surrounding rock. Physical sensitizers used in
Emulsion-Based explosives include Glass Micro Balloons.

Dopants are the solid, inert elements added to the Emulsions to render
specific requirements into the mixture. For example, aluminum powder is
added to increase the Energy/Strength of the explosive, but reduces the
Velocity of Detonation (VOD) of the chemical reaction front.
The following table shows the characteristic sizes of oxidizers and their effect
on explosive performance
Explosive Size Form VOD
(mm) (Km/s)
ANFO 2.00 All Solid 3.2

Slurry 0.20 Solid/Liquid 3.5-4.0

Emulsion 0.001 Liquid 4.0-5.0

Emulsion explosives are characterised by very intimate mixing between

oxidisers and fuels. Oxidisers, which are solutions of ammonium nitrate,
calcium nitrate, sodium nitrate, etc, are dispersed in continuous fuel medium
comprising of oils, waxes and other hydrocarbons. The result of such
intimate mixing is reaction, which is very rapid and complete. It means high
velocity of detonation (VOD), high-energy efficiency and lesser fumes than
slurry explosives. Typical values for slurry and an emulsion are given in
table 1.

Table – 1: Slurry and Emulsion Comparison:

Powerex 80 Powergel 801
Type Slurry Emulsion
Relative Wt. Strength % 110 118
Anfo
Energy Efficiency % 85 93
Noxious Fumes , l/kg 46 45
Impact Sensitivity*, cm 40 90

( * Impact Sensivity is measured by dropping 5 kg weight steel on explosives

sample kept on sand paper on a steel anvil )

Emulsion explosives are highly water-resistant also, making them most

suitable in watery conditions.
 Figure-1 : Structure of emulsion under Electron Microscope

3500 times expanded 500 times expanded

Av oxidiser droplet size 5 micron Av gas bubble size 50 micron

3500 times expanded picture of emulsion under Electron

Microscope