Powdered ammonium nitrate explosive containing polyacrylamide and an inorganic cross-linking agent

Claim 1

A STABLE, DRY, POURABLE POWDER COMPOSITION ADAPTED TO FORM ON CONTACT WITH WATER A SOFT, NON-SEPARATING, HIGHLY-VISCOUS, COHESIVE EXPLOSIVE GEL, SAID POWDER COMPOSITON CONTAINING AS ITS ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS (A) FROM ABOUT 25 TO ABOUT 50 WEIGHT PERCENT OF AMMONIUM NITRATE; (B) FROM ABOUT 5 TO ABOUT 25 WEIGHT PERCENT OF AN ALKALI-METAL NITRATE; (C) FROM ABOUT 20 TO ABOUT 40 WEIGHT PERCENT OF A NITRATED EXPLOSIVE SENSITIZER (D) FROM ABOUT 0.5 TO ABOUT 5 WEIGHT PERCENT OF A POLYACRYLAMIDE HAVING AN APPARENT MOLECULAR WEIGHT TO AT LEAST 100,000; (E) FROM ABOUT 0.05 TO ABOUT 0.5 WEIGHT PERCENT OF A POLYVALENT METAL INORGANIC SALT CROSS-LINKING AGENT FOR SAID POLYACRYLAMIDE; AND (F) FROM ABOUT 0.6 TO ABOUT 2.5 WEIGHT PERCENT OF AN INERT LIQUID.

Claim 3

A METHOD OF PREPARING A STABLE, DRY, POURABLE POWDER COMPOSITION ADAPTED TO FORM ON CONTACT WITH WATER A SOFT, NON-SEPARATING, HIGHLY-VISCOUS, COHESIVE EXPLOSIVE GEL WHICH COMPRISES COMBINING AMOUNTS EXPRESSED IN WEIGHT PERCENT OF THE DRY POWDER COMPOSITION ACCORDING TO THE STEPS WHICH COMPRISE: ADDING TO AN OPERATING MIXER FROM ABOUT 0.05 TO ABOUT 0.5% OF AN ALKALI-METAL NITRATE; STOPPIN SOLUBLE SALT OF A POLYVALENT METAL, ABOUT 0.6 TO ABOUT 2.5% OF AN INERT LIQUID; ADDING THERETO FROM ABOUT 20 WEIGHT PERCENT OF THE DRY POWDER COMPOSITION ACCORDING ABOUT 5 TO ABOUT 25% OF AN ALKALI-METAL NITRITE; STOPPING THE MIXING AS SOON AS A UNIFORM BLENDING IS ABOUT; FORMING A DRY-BLENDED MIXTURE OF FROM ABOUT 25 TO ABOUT 50% OF AMMONIUM NITRATE AND FROM ABOUT 0.5 TO ABOUT 5% OF A POLYACRYLAMIDE, SAID POLYACRYLAMIDE CONTAINING AT LEAST 2000 ACRYLAMIDE UNITS AND AN APPARENT MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF AT LEAST 100,000; ADDING SAID DRY-BLENDED MIXTURE TO SAID MIXER; STARTING SAID MIXER AND CONTAINING RESULTANT BLENDING UNTIL A UNIFORM ADMIXUTE IS OBTAINED AND STOPPING SAID MIXING BEFORE RESEGREGATION OF THE INGREDIENTS IS INITATED.

Claim 4

A METHOD OF PREPARING A STABLE, DRY, POURABLE POWDER COMPOSITION ADAPTED TO FORM ON CONTACT WITH WATER A SOFT, NON-SEPARATING, HIGHLY-VISCOUS, COHESIVE EXPLOSIVE GEL WHICH COMPRISES COMBINING AMOUNTS EXPRESSED IN WEIGHT PERCENT OF THE DRY POWDER COMPOSITION ACCORDING TO THE STEPS WHICH COMPRISE: ADDING TO AN OPERATING MIXER FROM ABOUT 0.05 TO ABOUT 0.5% OF AN ALKALI-METAL NITRATE; STOPPIN SOLUBLE SALT OF A POLYVALENT METAL, ABOUT 0.6 TO ABOUT 2.5% OF AN INERT LIQUID; ADDING THERETO FROM ABOUT 20 WEIGHT PERCENT OF THE DRY POWDER COMPOSITION ACCORDING ABOUT 5 TO ABOUT 25% OF AN ALKALI-METAL NITRITE; STOPPING THE MIXING AS SOON AS A UNIFORM BLENDING IS ABOUT; FORMING A DRY-BLENDED MIXTURE OF FROM ABOUT 25 TO ABOUT 50% OF AMMONIUM NITRATE AND FROM ABOUT 0.5 TO ABOUT 5% OF A POLYACRYLAMIDE, SAID POLYACRYLAMIDE CONTAINING AT LEAST 2000 ACRYLAMIDE UNITS AND AN APPARENT MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF AT LEAST 100,000; ADDING SAID DRY-BLENDED MIXTURE TO SAID MIXER; STARTING SAID MIXER AND CONTAINING RESULTANT BLENDING UNTIL A UNIFORM ADMIXUTE IS OBTAINED AND STOPPING SAID MIXING BEFORE RESEGREGATION OF THE INGREDIENTS IS INITATED.