Nosler plant explosion

Any word on how will this affect their production?

KR

i would assume it's halted at the moment.

Officers'Wife - I believe that smokeless powder is not classified as an explosive, which requires a burn rate of something like 14 fps to qualify. I'm not sure how wide of a path that 14ft is, or how deep.

I don't know where the dust would come from but you can get some big bangs out of airborn dust as well, quite common in commercial grain storage bins.

Officers'Wife - I believe that smokeless powder is not classified as an explosive, which requires a burn rate of something like 14 fps to qualify. I'm not sure how wide of a path that 14ft is, or how deep.

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An explosive material is one for which the burn rate exceeds the speed of sound, around 1100 fps at sea level. Burn rate is dependent on several factors, including the pressure the substance is under as it burns. Smokeless powder sitting on the ground will burn like wood. The way it works is that it gives off a lot of gas as it burns. In a contained environment, like the chamber of a gun, this gas is trapped and so it causes the pressure to rise rapidly. As the pressure rises, the burn rate rises, causing the pressure to rise even faster. However, even under these conditions, smokelss powder never truely detonates, it just burns VERY fast. Lots of gun related things are explosive. Black powder will detonate under normal conditions. Primers are explosive. Having powder suspended in air like Metalhead mentioned can greatly increase the burn rate.

I think it is part of a consipiracy, between this and Springfield. Colt will be next. Maybe Black Hills.

In all seriousness, I'm happy nobody was hurt. I hope they will be back on their feet soon.

Jon_Snow:
To clarify a bit, my understanding is that to be called an explosive the flame front must propagate through the material faster than the speed of sound in that material. The speed of sound is different in different materials, typically fastest in solids and slowest in gases.

According to Wikipedia, the detonation velocity of RDX, the explosive in C-4, 8750 m/s, or 28,700 fps. Nitroglycerin is listed at 7700 m/s, and nitrocellulose is variable depending upon how it is made--it can be either a deflagrant ("low explosive," not a true detonation) or an explosive ("high explosive," meeting the supersonic definition).

Smokeless powder isn't explosive. Flammable, but not explosive.

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While the finished produce may not be but the materials used to make it could be hazardious. Many years back in NJ, Hercules had a deadly explosion in their plant.

http://www3.gendisasters.com/new-jersey/1946/kenvil,-nj-hercules-powder-company-explosion,-sept-1940

The explosions continued until operations ceased.

Ultimately the facility was rebuilt with new safety measures and reopened in April 1941 to go on to produce munitions for World War Two as well as Rocket propellant and other products. By 1958, the Cold War was in full swing, and the Hercules Kenvil plant worked on materials for the Minuteman Missile. Smaller explosions continued from the late 1940's through the 60's, taking over a dozen additional lives. In 1964, two workers were killed in a fire in a building where smokeless powder was being prepared. In 1967 an explosion and fire leveled three buildings and killed two workers. More recently, a 1989 blast injured 20 workers and shattered glass for miles and in 1994, a machine mixing 500 pounds of nitroglycerin went up -- sending four workers to the hospital and showering the company parking lot with scraps of hot metal

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An earth covered building with steel doors and made of concrete would be about one of the most dangerous explosive containing buildings if it actually did have enough pressure to blow.

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I wonder why the military builds so many for storage of explosives?

Earth covered igloos, such as the Stradley http://www.wbdg.org/design/am_stradley-33-15-61.php are the standard for storing high explosives. The incident I mentioned involved detonation of BLU-82s containing 12,800 NEW (IIRC). Not much can be done to contain a blast of that magnitude. The fronts were sucked off the two adjacent igloos.

Hi scythefwd,

I believe that smokeless powder is not classified as an explosive, which requires a burn rate of something like 14 fps to qualify. I'm not sure how wide of a path that 14ft is, or how deep.

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Smokeless powder is considered a propellant grade explosive, others in that class are gelatinite, low grade dynamites and ammonia nitrate slurries. The various classes are based on speed of detonation, while smokeless detonation is relatively slow compared to TNT (the standard) it has explosive properties when compressed and subjected to shock.

Another poster mentioned the stuff burns therefore is not explosive- My uncle used to tell stories of breaking off a piece of C-4, lighting it on fire and using it to boil his coffee. PETN (the explosive in the core of primacord or 'det' cord if you prefer) also burns merrily alone if subjected to flame without explosion. C4, PETN, smokeless powder- subjected to flame is a high energy heat source. Subjected to explosive shock, such as a blasting cap, can move mountains.

Anyone in the NorthWest heard any updates?

http://www.ktvz.com/news/23805726/detail.html

Part of the article linked in the post above:

Nosler Workers Return as Blast Probe Enters New Phase
All But Production Workers Due Back Monday; Rifle Test Shot Sparked Fire
By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM
POSTED: 3:31 pm PDT June 5, 2010
UPDATED: 8:27 pm PDT June 6, 2010

BEND, Ore.

...The initiating event was related to testing of a rifle which was fired by an employee in the south tunnel," a concrete underground firing range used by the firm for ballistics testing, said Bend Deputy Fire Marshal Susie Lovisco said in a news release Saturday....

...The fire originated in the “50-yard room” of an underground indoor testing range, Lovisco said. That fire led to the explosion that tore a large hole in the southeast corner of the building, moments the fire alarm was pulled and employees evacuated.

“The primary fuel that burned was stored product,” Lovisco said, declining to elaborate at this point, adding, “The exact cause of the fire has not been determined until further analysis takes place.”

Lovisco described the all-concrete underground tunnel as being 100 yards in total length, with a room between the first and second 50 yards, for ballistics testing.

A “backdraft effect occurred,” the deputy fire marshal told KTVZ.COM, in the “oxygen-starved environment” of the tunnel, and the pressure “exploded out the southeast corner of the building.”

Lovisco said the next step in the investigation into what happened will take place at the insurance company’s testing laboratories “in the days and weeks to come.”