Editing Ammonium nitrate (section)

==Applications==
===Fertilizer===
Ammonium nitrate is an important fertilizer with [[NPK rating]] 34-0-0 (34% nitrogen).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/forages/events/SHC12/03%20Fertilization%20Outlook%20for%20Hay%20Producers/Nutrient%20Content%20of%20Fertilizer%20Materials.pdf |title=Nutrient Content of Fertilizer Materials |access-date=27 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224131002/http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/forages/events/SHC12/03%20Fertilization%20Outlook%20for%20Hay%20Producers/Nutrient%20Content%20of%20Fertilizer%20Materials.pdf |archive-date=24 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is less concentrated than [[urea]] (46-0-0), giving ammonium nitrate a slight transportation disadvantage. Ammonium nitrate's advantage over urea is that it is more stable and does not rapidly lose nitrogen to the atmosphere.

===Explosives===
{{See also| List of ammonium nitrate disasters}}
Ammonium nitrate readily forms explosive mixtures with varying properties when combined with explosives such as TNT or with fuels like [[aluminium]] powder or fuel oil. 
Examples of explosives containing ammonium nitrate include:

* [[Amatex]] (ammonium nitrate, [[TNT]] and [[RDX]])
* [[Amatol]] (ammonium nitrate and [[TNT]])
* [[Ammonal]] (ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder)
* [[ANFO]] (ammonium nitrate and [[fuel oil]])
* [[Astrolite]] (ammonium nitrate and [[hydrazine]] rocket fuel)
* [[Goma-2]] (ammonium nitrate, [[Ethylene glycol dinitrate|nitroglycol]], [[nitrocellulose]], [[dibutyl phthalate]] and [[fuel]])
* [[Minol (explosive)]] (ammonium nitrate, [[TNT]] and aluminum powder)
* [[Nitrolite]] (ammonium nitrate, [[TNT]] and [[nitroglycerin]] +)
* [[RDX|DBX]] (ammonium nitrate, [[RDX]], [[TNT]] and aluminum powder)
* [[Tovex]] (ammonium nitrate and [[methylammonium nitrate]])

====Mixture with fuel oil====
{{main|ANFO}}
ANFO is a mixture of 94% ammonium nitrate ("AN") and 6% [[fuel oil]] ("FO") widely used as a bulk industrial [[explosive]].<ref name=Cook>{{cite book |last=Cook |first=Melvin A. |title=The Science of Industrial Explosives |publisher=IRECO Chemicals |year=1974 |page=1 |asin=B0000EGDJT}}</ref>{{rp|1}} It is used in [[coal mining]], [[quarrying]], metal [[mining]], and civil construction in undemanding applications where the advantages of ANFO's low cost, relative safety, and ease of use matter more than the benefits offered by conventional industrial explosives, such as water resistance, [[oxygen balance]], high detonation velocity, and performance in small diameters.<ref name=Cook/>{{rp|2}}

====Terrorism====
Ammonium nitrate-based explosives were used in the [[Sterling Hall bombing]] in Madison, Wisconsin, 1970, the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] in 1995, the [[2011 Delhi bombing]]s, the [[2011 Norway attacks|2011 bombing in Oslo]], the [[Myyrmanni bombing]] and the [[2013 Hyderabad blasts]].

In November 2009, the government of the [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|KPK]] (previously termed as NWFP) of [[Pakistan]] imposed a ban on [[ammonium sulfate]], ammonium nitrate, and [[calcium ammonium nitrate]] fertilizers in the former [[Malakand Division]]{{Snd}}comprising the [[Upper Dir]], [[Lower Dir]], [[Swat, Pakistan|Swat]], [[Chitral]], and [[Malakand District|Malakand]] districts of the NWFP – following reports that those chemicals were used by militants to make explosives. Due to these bans, "[[Potassium chlorate]]{{Snd}}the material which allows [[safety matches]] to catch fire{{Snd}}has surpassed fertilizer as the explosive of choice for insurgents."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/06/25/ammonium-nitrate-potassium-chlorate-ieds-afghanistan/2442191/|title=Afghan bomb makers shifting to new explosives for IEDs|first=Tom Vanden|last=Brook|website=USA TODAY}}</ref>

===Niche uses===
Ammonium nitrate is used in some [[instant cold pack]]s, as its dissolution in water is highly [[endothermic]]. In 2021, [[King Abdullah University of Science and Technology]] in Saudi Arabia conducted experiments to study the potential for dissolving ammonium nitrate in water  for [[off-grid]] cooling systems and as a refrigerant. They suggested that the water could be distilled and reused using solar energy to avoid water wastage in severe environments.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coxworth |first1=Ben |title=Sunlight and salt water join forces in electricity-free cooling system |url=https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/sunlight-salt-water-electricity-free-cooling-system/ |access-date=21 September 2021 |work=New Atlas |publisher=Gizmag Pty Ltd. |date=20 September 2021}}</ref>

It was once used, in combination with independently explosive "fuels" such as [[guanidine nitrate]],<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=5531941|title=Process for preparing azide-free gas generant composition|inventor1-last=Poole|inventor1-first=Donald R.|assign= Automotive Systems Laboratory|pubdate=1996-07-02}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/business/compound-in-takata-airbags-is-inquirys-focus.html Airbag Compound Has Vexed Takata for Years] – [[The New York Times]]</ref> as a cheaper (but less stable) alternative to [[5-aminotetrazole]] in the inflators of [[airbag]]s manufactured by [[Takata Corporation]], which were recalled as unsafe after killing 14 people.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/business/takata-airbag-recall-crisis.html?hpw&rref=automobiles&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well A Cheaper Airbag, and Takata's Road to a Deadly Crisis.] – [[The New York Times]]</ref> The current  USA death total is 27.<ref>{{cite web |title=Takata Spotlight |url=https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle-safety/takata-recall-spotlight |website=NHTSA.gov |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref>