A vast store of explosive material sat in Beirut for years despite repeated warnings. https://wapo.st/2PrEDYL
黎巴嫩災難接二連三。業界對工業硝酸鹽爆炸等管制措施很清楚，可是必須嚴格執行才可倖免於難。
黎巴嫩首都貝魯特在當地時間週二晚上被爆炸震撼，至少有百人喪生，數千人受傷。 該國總理哈桑·迪亞布（Hassan Diab）說，爆炸是由該市貨運港口附近儲存的約2700噸硝酸銨引起的。 錄像顯示爆炸前附近有熊熊燃燒的烈火。
Officials Knew Volatile Material Was Stored at Beirut Port for Years
Outrage swelled in Lebanon over long-term government mismanagement and the role it might have played in the disaster.
The powerful blast, which could be felt 150 miles away, killed more than 100 people and injured more than 4,000. Here’s the latest.
官員們知道易揮發物質已在貝魯特港儲存了多年
長期以來對政府的管理不善及其在災難中可能發揮的作用，激怒了黎巴嫩人們。
強大爆炸，可能在150英里之外可以感覺到，導致100多人喪生，4,000多人受傷。 這是最新的消息。
For an industrial ammonium nitrate disaster to occur, a lot needs to go wrong. Tragically, this seems to have been the case in Beirut.
工業硝酸銨災難要能發生，需要很多地方/管制點出錯才行。 可悲的是，貝魯特大爆炸似乎就是這種情況。
For an industrial ammonium nitrate disaster to occur, a lot needs to go wrong. Tragically, this seems to have been the case in Beirut.
造成貝魯特爆炸的化學物質硝酸鹽是什麼東西？ What Is Ammonium Nitrate, the Chemical That Exploded in Beirut?
黎巴嫩首都貝魯特在當地時間週二晚上被爆炸震撼，至少有百人喪生，數千人受傷。 該國總理哈桑·迪亞布（Hassan Diab）說，爆炸是由該市貨運港口附近儲存的約2700噸硝酸銨引起的。 錄像顯示爆炸前附近有熊熊燃燒的烈火。
The Lebanese capital Beirut was rocked on Tuesday evening local time by an explosion that has killed at least 78 people and injured thousands more.
The country’s prime minister Hassan Diab said the blast was caused by around 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored near the city’s cargo port. Video footage appears to show a fire burning nearby before the blast.
硝酸銨的化學式為NH₄NO₃。 生產為小型多孔顆粒或“小球”，是世界上使用最廣泛的肥料之一。 它也是許多類型的採礦炸藥中的主要成分，在這種炸藥中，它與燃料油混合併被炸藥炸藥引爆。 對於工業硝酸銨災難的發生，有很多地方需要出錯。 可悲的是，貝魯特似乎就是這種情況。 爆炸可能是什麼原因？ 硝酸銨不會自行燃燒。 相反，它充當氧氣源，可以加速其他材料的燃燒（燃燒）。
Ammonium nitrate has the chemical formula NH₄NO₃. Produced as small porous pellets, or “prills”, it’s one of the world’s most widely used fertilisers.
It is also the main component in many types of mining explosives, where it’s mixed with fuel oil and detonated by an explosive charge.
For an industrial ammonium nitrate disaster to occur, a lot needs to go wrong. Tragically, this seems to have been the case in Beirut.
WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED THE EXPLOSION?
Ammonium nitrate does not burn on its own.
Instead, it acts as a source of oxygen that can accelerate the combustion (burning) of other materials.
硝酸銨。 圖片來源：Luis Robayo Getty Images
為了燃燒，必須存在氧氣。 硝酸銨顆粒提供的氧氣比我們周圍的空氣更加集中。 這就是為什麼它在採礦與石油和其他燃料混合的炸藥中有效的原因。
但是，在足夠高的溫度下，硝酸銨會自行劇烈分解。 該過程產生包括氮氧化物和水蒸氣的氣體。 正是這種氣體的快速釋放導致爆炸。
如果在儲存地點發生爆炸，並且附近有烈火，則可以引發硝酸銨分解。 後者就是2015年天津爆炸中發生的事，該爆炸將易燃化學品和硝酸銨一起儲存在中國東部一家化工廠中，造成173人死亡。
(又：It's not the first time that ammonium nitrate, which is reasonably cheap to manufacture, has been implicated in deadly industrial explosions
(又：It's not the first time that ammonium nitrate, which is reasonably cheap to manufacture, has been implicated in deadly industrial explosions
For combustion to occur, oxygen must be present. Ammonium nitrate prills provide a much more concentrated supply of oxygen than the air around us. This is why it is effective in mining explosives, where it’s mixed with oil and other fuels.
At high enough temperatures, however, ammonium nitrate can violently decompose on its own. This process creates gases including nitrogen oxides and water vapour. It is this rapid release of gases that causes an explosion.
Ammonium nitrate decomposition can be set off if an explosion occurs where it’s stored, if there is an intense fire nearby. The latter is what happened in the 2015 Tianjin explosion, which killed 173 people after flammable chemicals and ammonium nitrate were stored together at a chemicals factory in eastern China.
雖然我們不確定貝魯特爆炸的起因，但事件的鏡頭表明，爆炸可能是由大火引起的，爆炸發生前在該城市港口區域的某個區域可見。 火災引發硝酸銨爆炸相對困難。 火災必須與硝酸銨小球在同一區域內持續並限制在範圍內。
While we don’t know for sure what caused the explosion in Beirut, footage of the incident indicates it may have been set off by a fire – visible in a section of the city’s port area before the explosion happened.
It’s relatively difficult for a fire to trigger an ammonium nitrate explosion. The fire would need to be sustained and confined within the same area as the ammonium nitrate prills.
而且，小球本身並不是生火的燃料，因此它們將需要被某種其他可燃材料污染或包裝。 居民的健康風險 據報導，在貝魯特，沒有適當的安全控制，將2,700噸硝酸銨在倉庫中存儲了6年。 幾乎可以肯定，這將導致悲慘的情況，造成普遍的工業火災，造成如此巨大的爆炸。 硝酸銨爆炸會產生大量的氮氧化物。 二氧化氮（NO 2）是一种红色的，難聞的氣體。 貝魯特的圖像顯示爆炸產生的氣體羽流帶有明顯的微紅色。 氮氧化物通常存在於城市空氣污染中，並會刺激呼吸系統。 這些污染物的含量升高特別適用於患有呼吸道疾病的人。
Also, the prills themselves are not fuel for the fire, so they would need to be contaminated with, or packaged in, some other combustible material.
RESIDENTS’ HEALTH AT RISK
In Beirut, it has been reported 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in a warehouse for six years without proper safety controls.
This will almost certainly have contributed to the tragic circumstances that resulted in a commonplace industrial fire causing such a devastating explosion.
An ammonium nitrate explosion produces massive amounts of nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a red, bad-smelling gas. Images from Beirut reveal a distinct reddish colour to the plume of gases from the blast.
Nitrogen oxides are commonly present in urban air pollution, and can irritate the respiratory system. Elevated levels of these pollutants are particularly concerning for people with respiratory conditions.
The fumes in Beirut will present a health risk to residents until they naturally dissipate, which could take several days depending on the local weather.
AN IMPORTANT REMINDER
Here in Australia, we produce and import large amounts of ammonium nitrate, mostly for use in mining. It is made by combining ammonia gas with liquid nitric acid, which itself is made from ammonia.
Ammonium nitrate is classified as dangerous goods and all aspects of its use are tightly regulated. For decades, Australia has produced, stored and used ammonium nitrate without a major incident.
The explosion in Beirut shows us just how important these regulations are.
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