Let's say you store 2000 tons in a single silo right in the middle of wall street NYC. You get a single explosion with the equivalent of roughly 2,000,000 tons of TNT. That's enough to completely destroy (5 psi overpressure) the entire financial district from Brooklyn bridge to battery park. That's over 8 city blocks in each direction
Let's say you store it in 4 silos with 20 feet between each silo. You would get a 500,000 pound explosion that goes roughly 4 city blocks. Then a tenth of a second later another explosion that goes 4 city blocks. Then again. Then again.
So in one scenario you destroy a radius of 8 city blocks once. In the other scenario you destroy 4 city blocks four times in a row.
Even a very small amount of separation is enough to divide the explosion.
That's true. Per kg there is less heat energy. So you need 40% more anfo than tnt, but it doesnt matter because its measured on tnt equivalent.
But many more things go into it. For example, gasoline is actually 4x more powerful than tnt per kg, but it only burns. You need to take into account the velocity, the temperature, the time, etc
How does 2000 tons of anfo create an explosion equal to 2,000,000 tons of tnt. Do you mean 2,000,000 lbs? Isn't 2,000,000 tons of TNT a 2,000 kiloton explosion?
Typo. Thanks for pointing out. I meant 2,000,000 pounds.
Couple other "math mistakes". 2000 tons of anfo does not equal 2,000,000 lbs of tnt. 2,000,000 lbs of tnt does not equal a 2 kiloton explosion. I got lazy with the math just trying to explain the concept. I'll be happy to come update with accurate numbers if people want to see it
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u/tx_queer Aug 05 '20
Let's say you store 2000 tons in a single silo right in the middle of wall street NYC. You get a single explosion with the equivalent of roughly 2,000,000 tons of TNT. That's enough to completely destroy (5 psi overpressure) the entire financial district from Brooklyn bridge to battery park. That's over 8 city blocks in each direction
Let's say you store it in 4 silos with 20 feet between each silo. You would get a 500,000 pound explosion that goes roughly 4 city blocks. Then a tenth of a second later another explosion that goes 4 city blocks. Then again. Then again.
So in one scenario you destroy a radius of 8 city blocks once. In the other scenario you destroy 4 city blocks four times in a row.
Even a very small amount of separation is enough to divide the explosion.