Givat Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Hi guys, I haven't been in my house for about 2 weeks. when i opened my lab to work I found the NH4NO3 vessel broken open:http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/1605/nh4no3brokenjar2xa3.th.jpghttp://img53.imageshack.us/img53/4593/nh4no3brokenjarqx3.th.jpg in the MSDS I saw this warning: Do not store above 54C (130F) preferably below 30C (86F). I guess my lab could have been at about 50C in the midday of some of the days I wasn't here. What do you think happened to my NH4NO3?As far as I know when NH4NO3 decomposes it releases NO2 at first, and the NH4NO3 isn't red\orange as it would have been if NO2 was released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBang Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Well I haven't seen this before, so I can't say what happened. NH4NO3 does decompose, but to N2O not NO2, so this could have been the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 It does go to N2O before it gets to NO2 I do believe. The other option is simple pressure. If the thing was air tight the heat could have just expanded existing air rupturing it. Water could have been expelled from the AN, also creating more ressure. I don't think AN decomposes at all, until at least 100C or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swany Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 NH4NO3 can decompose at least 7 differnt ways, depending on the conditions. Can you notice any visible moisture, smells, or stickyness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta_echo Posted October 3, 2006 Share Posted October 3, 2006 NH4NO3 can decompose at least 7 differnt ways, depending on the conditions. Can you notice any visible moisture, smells, or stickyness? I've definitely had NH4NO3 decompose at least partially into ammonia gas. The smell was unmistakable as well as being nasty to breathe in too much. Mine actually turned to what looked like a soapy (think bar soap) slime. Had a slight yellow tint to it as well. Luckily, it was still plenty water soluble and came off my media easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Givat Posted October 6, 2006 Author Share Posted October 6, 2006 NH4NO3 can decompose at least 7 differnt ways, depending on the conditions. Can you notice any visible moisture, smells, or stickyness? no smell or stickyness.as for visible moisture, it looks like it got some moisture in it but not more than usual (you can't feel it got moisture, it's only looks like it got some) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XenoN Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Yeah i have had the same thing happen. I left a little bit of the stuff in a mortar and petistle over night. The next day it smelled horribly of ammonia and was a thick clear liquid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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