Aeci Limited

Pieter S Halliday

Carl H Lubbe

Jeremy G Smith

Gareth Tucker

Lynette Swartz

Alan J Harris

David Ellis

David G Russell

Allan J Harris

A positive displacement explosive base dosing pump is provided with a drive motor 14 and has an outlet 22 connected via a flexible hose 24 to a lance 70. The lance 70 has a mixing device 72 therein and a reciprocable positive displacement gassing solution dosing pump has an outlet connected via a flexible conduit 54 to the lance and feeding into the lance upstream of the mixing device 72. The invention involves using the base dosing pump 12 to pump explosive base from a supply 78 along the hose 24 to the lance 70 while the gassing solution dosing pump 16 simultaneously pumps gassing solution from a supply 56 along the flexible conduit 54. The conduit 54 leads the solution into the lance 70 upstream of the mixing device 72 whereby the explosive base is mixed with the solution, so that a mixture issues from the lance 70 which become sensitized after reaction has taken place between the base and solution.

Loading of boreholes with explosive

In a process for the production of a `water-in-fuel` or `melt-in-fuel` emulsion explosive a density-reducing agent is introduced and dispersed in the emulsion at an elevated temperature whereat the emulsion is essentially liquid, the explosive is cartridged and then subsequently cooled by means of a refrigerated fluid so that the continuous phase solidifies and stabilizes the dispersion of the density-reducing agent in the explosive. Preferably, when the density-reducing agent comprises gas bubbles the explosive is subjected to an elevated pressure before it is cartridged in order to ensure that the sensitivity of the explosive will not be impaired by disturbance of gas bubbles by any pressure drop which might occur during cartridging. The invention also extends to a cartridging machine for cartridging emulsion explosive, the machine comprising a container defining a sealed pressurizable explosives chamber which has an explosives inlet and at least one explosives outlet provided with a positive displacement pump for pumping explosive from the chamber into a cartridge.

Process for the production of a cartridged explosive with entrapped

In a process for the production of a `water-in-fuel` or `melt-in-fuel` emulsion explosive a density-reducing agent is introduced and dispersed in the emulsion at an elevated temperature whereat the emulsion is essentially liquid, the explosive is cartridged and then subsequently cooled by means of a refrigerated fluid so that the continuous phase solidifies and stabilizes the dispersion of the density-reducing agent in the explosive. Preferably, when the density-reducing agent comprises gas bubbles the explosive is subjected to an elevated pressure before it is cartridged in order to ensure that the sensitivity of the explosive will not be impaired by disturbance of gas bubbles by any pressure drop which might occur during cartridging.

Process for the production of an explosive and the explosive

A method of making an explosive in the form of an emulsion, which includes two stages being a first stage comprising directing a plurality of 0.5 to 5 mm diameter jets of the discontinuous phase into the continuous phase, in the presence of an emulsifier, and feeding the continuous phase containing the discontinuous phase through a static mixer to form a relatively coarse, fuel-rich emulsion; and a second stage comprising directing a plurality of 0.5 to 5 mm diameter jets of the discontinuous phase into the continuous phase of said coarse emulsion, and feeding the coarse emulsion with the added discontinuous phase through two further static mixers arranged in series. The invention further extends to an apparatus for performing the method of the invention.

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Randburg, South Africa

Pieter S Halliday