Emulsion explosive composition

Abstract

An explosive emulsion composition which includes two oxygen supplying salts and urea as a discontinuous phase, and a continuous water-immiscible organic phase which consists predominantly of iso-paraffinic oils and one or more emulsifying agents.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An explosive emulsion composition comprising an aqueous solution of two oxygen-releasing salts and urea in a discontinuous phase, and a continuous water-immiscible organic fuel phase comprising predominantly at least one iso-paraffinic oil and at least one emulsifying agent.  
     
     
         2 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said oxygen-releasing salts are selected from the group consisting of ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, calcium nitrate and urea, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         3 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the oxygen-releasing salt component comprises from about 50% to about 94%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         4 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein urea comprises from about 1% to about 15%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         5 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said continuous water-immiscible organic phase comprises from about 1% to about 10%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         6 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said continuous water-immiscible organic phase comprises at least one derivative of poly(isobutylene) succinic anhydride and an amine or alkanolamine-emulsifier.  
     
     
         7 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said emulsifying agent comprises from about 0.3% to about 35%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         8 . The explosive composition according to  claim 3 , wherein the oxygen-releasing salt component comprises from about 60% to about 85%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         9 . The explosive composition according to  claim 4 , wherein urea comprises from about 3% to about 9%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         10 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 5 , wherein said continuous water-immiscible organic phase comprises from about 3% to about 7%, by weight, of the composition.  
     
     
         11 . The explosive composition according to  claim 7 , wherein said emulsifying agent comprises from about 0.5% to about 1.5%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         12 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , wherein said water-immiscible organic phase comprises from about 1% to about 10%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         13 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 12 , wherein said continuous water-immiscible organic phase comprises from about 3% to about 8%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         14 . A process for producing an explosive emulsion composition, which comprises: 
 a) dissolving two oxygen-releasing salts and urea in water at a temperature above the fudge point of the aqueous solution;    b) adjusting the pH of said oxygen-releasing salt and urea mixture between about 2 and 7;    c) combining said oxygen-releasing salts and urea mixture and an organic fuel phase comprising a derivative of a polyisobutylene succinic anhydride emulsifier and iso-paraffinic oils;    d) mixing until a uniform emulsion is formed; and    e) adding a density reducing agent.    
     
     
         15 . A process for producing an explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , which comprises: 
 a) dissolving said oxygen-releasing salts and urea in water at a temperature above the fudge point of the aqueous solution;    b) adjusting the pH of said oxygen-releasing salt mixture between about 2 and about 7;    c) combining said oxygen-releasing salts and urea mixture and an organic fuel phase comprising a derivative of PIBSA emulsifier and iso-paraffinic oils;    d) mixing until a uniform emulsion is formed; and    e) adding a density reducing agent.    
     
     
         16 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , further including a gassing catalyst in the discontinuous phase.  
     
     
         17 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 16 , wherein the gassing catalyst is selected from the group consisting of thiocyanates.  
     
     
         18 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 16 , wherein the gassing catalyst comprises from about 0.1% to about 1%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         19 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , which is formed by dry addition, said dry addition comprising between about 1% to about 95%, by weight, of the total composition.  
     
     
         20 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 19 , wherein the dry addition comprises ammonium nitrate prill, or a blend of ammonium nitrate prill and diesel oil (“ANFO”).  
     
     
         21 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 1 , and including a density reducing agent.  
     
     
         22 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 21 , wherein said density reducing agent is selected from the group consisting of salts of alkali metal nitrites.  
     
     
         23 . The explosive emulsion composition according to  claim 21 , wherein a sufficient quantity of a density reducing agent is used to yield a composition having a density in the range of about 0.50 to about 1.39 g/cm 3 .  
     
     
         24 . The process according to  claim 14 , wherein the pH is adjusted to between about 3.5 and about 6.0.  
     
     
         25 . The process according to  claim 14 , wherein the pH is adjusted to between 5.0 and 5.5.