Bad Chemistry: Energetic Decomposition

“Everything that comes together falls apart.”  — John Green When we think of decomposition, we usually think of it as a slow, inexorable process of breaking down useful things into malodorous glop. Think of that six-month-old head of lettuce in the bottom of the refrigerator. Or the carcass of the dead animal in the woods, [...]

By |2026-03-19T15:04:44-05:00March 19th, 2026|Chemicals, Process Safety|Comments Off on Bad Chemistry: Energetic Decomposition

Insanity: Another Ammonium Nitrate Explosion

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — First said by an anonymous member of Al-Anon in Knoxville, Tennessee I have a dream. In my dream, following a terrible chemical disaster that mimics other terrible chemical disasters, officials don’t wring their hands and talk about how their thoughts [...]

By |2025-01-17T09:45:57-06:00August 13th, 2020|Chemicals, Current Events|Comments Off on Insanity: Another Ammonium Nitrate Explosion

A New Enforcement Program: Ammonia and Ammonium Nitrate

“This program is an enforcement tool to emphasize the obligations under existing OSHA standards,”  – Kimberly Stille, OSHA Region VII Administrator When the West Fertilizer ammonium nitrate warehouse north of Waco, Texas caught fire and then blew up on April 17, 2013, killing 15 and injuring 160, much was made of the lack of inspections [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:33:17-06:00October 4th, 2018|Chemicals, Current Events, Process Safety, Process Safety Management|Comments Off on A New Enforcement Program: Ammonia and Ammonium Nitrate
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