Construction industry: explosives

Redox reactions play an important role in industrial safety. Explosives are used in controlled ways in the mining, highway, and construction industries. The use of explosives allows modern workers to break up bedrock and carry out necessary demolitions from a safe distance. Chemists are involved in the development and production of explosives. They are also involved in making recommendations for the safe handling and disposal of explosives. 

Explosions can be used for constructive purposes, such as mining and road building for entertainment, such as fireworks or for destructive purposes, such as military weapons and terrorist bombs. They may be either deliberate or accidental. Explosive materials must always be handled with extreme care to prevent accidents. Such caution must be exercised with not only industrial explosives, but also commonly encountered materials such as fireworks, laboratory and industrial chemicals, and flammable gases, see also Fire, Fuels, Power Plants Fireworks Kinetics Nuclear Fission Nuclear Fusion Thermodynamics. 

General industry and the construction industry have a lot in common when it comes to confined space hazards the potential for fire, explosion, chemical exposure and oxygen enrichment or deficiency. In spite of the commonalities, there are significant differences between the two, says Edward J. Willwerth, an NFPA-certified marine chemist who has taught confined space safety courses for the U.S. military, shipyards, petroleum terminals, chemical manufacturers and industrial facilities. 

The available natural reserves of fixed nitrogen were also used at that time for other miscellaneous purposes, such as for dyestuffs and explosives required by the military and the mining and construction industries. Alfred Nobel, for instance, discovered dynamite in 1866 and, with the large amount of wealth obtained from it, was able in 1901 to establish the Nobel Foundation, which awards the Nobel Prizes. It is clear that large and ever-increasing amounts of nitrate were being consumed by the explosives industry, in addition to the growing requirement for fertilizers. 

Figure 17-17. Standard explosion-proof alarm devices. Courtesy of Crouse-Hinds Electrical Construction Materials, a division of Cooper Industries, Inc.)...

Beryllium is obtained by electrolytic reduction of molten beryllium chloride. The element s low density makes it useful for the construction of missiles and satellites. Beryllium is also used as windows for x-ray tubes because Be atoms have so few electrons, thin sheets of the metal are transparent to x-rays and allow the rays to escape. Beryllium is added in small amounts to copper the small Be atoms pin the Cu atoms together in an interstitial alloy that is more rigid than pure copper but still conducts electricity well. These hard, electrically conducting alloys are formed into nonsparking tools for use in oil refineries and grain elevators, where there is a risk of explosion. Beryllium-copper alloys are also used in the electronics industry to form tiny nonmagnetic parts and contacts that resist deformation and corrosion. 

Accdg to Dutton (Ref 58, p 143), the World s largest Dynamite Plant was constructed near Modderfontein, South Africa, it was operated by the African Explosive and Chemical Industries... 

Explosives Consumption. The apparent consumption of industrial expls in the US for 1972 was 2670 million pounds (about 1210 million kilograms). Apparent consumption of expls and blasting agents increased in all use categories except in construction and metal mining... 

Fites and Explosions in Industries (Prevention, Protection and Extinction). In order to have fire, there must be present a combustible material (such as wood, coal, fuel oil, etc), an oxidizing agent (such as oxygen, nitrates, chlorates, perchlorates, peroxides etc), and sufficient heat to start the fire. If buildings are constructed of wood or cardboard, they provide enough combustible material to start a fire... 

Not all explosives are suitable for military applications. For example, dynamite has been used for many years in the industrial and construction fields but is not... 

In the oil and gas industry, the term abandonment generally refers to the activities undertaken to remove the structures used to sustain oil and gas production after the production is ceased. The structures range from a few tonnes of steel on the seabed to a complete platform constructed from around 30000 tonnes of steel framework. The task of removal requires extremely detailed and careful planning as well as substantial resources. Explosives are very efficient tools for cutting steel underwater and have been the preferred choice of many offshore operators for over 40 years. Also explosives offer the flexibility of a single controlled cut or multiple simultaneous cuts for remote and safe toppling of very large structures [129]. 

Theft of fissionable materials from nuclear plants was put forward as a method by which terrorists or rogue nations could obtain materials for the manufacture of nuclear weapons. Not only would such a theft be extremely difficult and dangerous to the perpetrators, but such material would be of little use in weapons. A bomb made with plutonium derived from the U.S. nuclear power industry would require a high degree of technical expertise to construct. It would be unreliable and give low explosive yield, and no bomb made from such material has ever been detonated. 

Disaster Planning. Plant managers should recognize the possibility of natural and industrial emergencies and should oversee formulation of a plan of action in case of disaster. The plan should be well documented and be made known to all personnel critical to its implementation. Practice fire and explosion drills should be carried out to make sure that all personnel, ie, employees, visitors, construction workers, contractors, vendors, etc, are accounted for, and that the participants know what to do in a major emergency. 

---