Prill-Free Emulsion Explosive with Non-Random Voids
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current commercial explosives, particularly those containing ammonium nitrate prill, exhibit variable detonation performance due to factors like manufacturing technology, additives, and environmental conditions, leading to inconsistent blasting results and high energy costs, and are difficult to pump into blastholes.
Innovation Solution
An explosive composition with a liquid energetic material and non-randomly distributed sensitizing voids, allowing for regions with varying concentrations of voids to control detonation characteristics, eliminating the need for ammonium nitrate prill and enabling comparable blasting performance to conventional ANFO and AN prill-containing explosives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If ammonium nitrate prill is added to emulsion explosives to enhance heave properties, then heave energy is improved, but detonation performance becomes highly variable and the composition becomes difficult to pump
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the ammonium nitrate prill component from the explosive composition, replacing it with a prill-free emulsion formulation. This removal of the problematic prill ingredient directly addresses the variability issue while maintaining heave energy through alternative emulsion design
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical and chemical parameters of the explosive composition by formulating a prill-free emulsion with specific energy densities, void distributions, and compositional ratios. These parameter changes enable consistent detonation performance while achieving the desired heave energy without relying on variable prill characteristics
2Use of energy by moving object
If ammonium nitrate prill is used in explosive compositions, then heave properties are enhanced, but manufacturing costs increase due to capital expenditure and energy intensive processes
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the expensive prilling process and capital-intensive prilling towers from the manufacturing system. By formulating a prill-free emulsion explosive, the invention removes the need for energy-intensive prilling operations, directly reducing both operational energy costs and capital expenditure requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the expensive, energy-intensive ammonium nitrate prill with a more economical emulsion formulation that achieves equivalent or superior performance. This substitution with a cheaper alternative material eliminates the need for costly prilling infrastructure and reduces manufacturing costs
3Force
If high velocity of detonation explosive is used to fragment rock, then shock energy is increased, but heave energy to move fragmented rock is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the velocity of detonation parameter to an optimized intermediate range that balances shock energy and heave energy. By controlling VOD within a specific range through emulsion formulation, the invention achieves both adequate rock fragmentation and sufficient heave energy for efficient rock movement, avoiding the extremes of high-VOD emulsions that produce excessive shock and low-VOD explosives that lack fragmentation power
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The composition achieves a balanced energy release of shock and heave energies, reducing dust production, facilitating easier rock collection, and lowering manufacturing costs while maintaining high energy densities, allowing for efficient pumping and tailored blasting performance.
Implementation Method 1
The explosive composition comprises a liquid energetic material and sensitizing voids, wherein the sensitizing voids are present in the liquid energetic material with a non-random distribution; and wherein the liquid energetic material comprises (a) regions in which the sensitizing voids are sufficiently concentrated to render those regions detonable
Data Source
AI summary
An explosive composition comprising a liquid energetic material and sensitizing voids, wherein the sensitizing voids are present in the liquid energetic material with a non-random distribution, wherein the liquid energetic material comprises (a) regions in which the sensitizing voids are sufficiently concentrated to render those regions detonable and (b) regions in which the sensitizing voids are not so concentrated and wherein the explosive composition does not contain ammonium nitrate prill.