Ammonium nitrate explosive composition

Claim 1

AN EXPLOSIVE COMPOSITION IN PARTICULATE FORM CONSISTINGS ESSENTIALLY OF BETWEEN ABOUT 95% AND ABOUT 97% OF POROUS AMMONIUM NITRATE PARTICLES AND PRREPARED BY HEATING A PARTICULATE, CRYSTALLINE FORM IV NON-POROUS AMMONIUM NITRATE HAVING A BULK DENSITY BETWEEN ABOUT 0.93 GM./ML. AND ABOUT 1.00 GM./ML., A PARTICLES DENSITY BETWEEN ABOUT 1.5 GM./ML. ABOUT 1.7 GM./ML., AND A HYDROCARBON OIL ABSORPTION CAPACITY OF NO MORE THAN ABOUT 2%, AT A TEMPERATURE ABOVE 32*C. AND BELOW 84*C. FOR A PERIOD SUFFICIENT TO TRANSFORM SUBSTANTIALLY ALL THE AMMONIUM NITRATE TO CRYSTALLINE FORM III OF AMMONIUM NITRATE AND THEREAFTER COOLING THE AMMONIUM NITRATE TO A TEMPERATURE BELOW 32*C. AND MAINTAINING SAID TEMPERATURE FOR A TIME SUFFICIENT TO RECONVERT THE AMMONIUM NITRATE TO CRYSTALLINE FORM IV AND BETWEEN ABOUT 5% AND ABOUT 3% OF A LIQUID HYDROCARBON OIL, SAID HYDROCARBON OIL BEING ABSORBED ON AND DISPERSED WITHIN THE PORES OF SAID POROUS AMMONIUM NITRATE PARTICLES, SAID COMPOSITION HAVING A BULK DENSITY BETWEEN ABOUT 0.93 GRAM PER MILLILITER AND ABOUT 1.00 GRAM PER MILLILITER, SAID PARTICLES OF SAID COMPOSITION HAVING SIZE IN THE RANGE BETWEEN 8 TO 48 TYLER SCREEN MESH, OF WHICH BETWEEN ABOUT 80% AND ABOUT 95% ARE OF SUCH SIZE AS TO PASS AN 8 MESH TYLER SCREEN AND BE RETAINED ON A 35 MESH TYLER SCREEN, AND HAVE PARTICLESS DENSITIES BETWEEN ABOUT 1.5 GRAMS PER MILLILITER AND ABOUT 1.7 GRAMS PER MILLILITER AND HIGH RESISTANCE TO CRUSHING.