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Ronald O Peddie

John Joseph Cooper

Noel Hsu

Michael Brues

A process for the production of ammonium nitrate bodies in particulate form wherein an ammonium nitrate/water liquid mixture containing at least 92% and preferably at most 97.5% by weight ammonium nitrate, optionally with a proportion of the ammonium nitrate substituted by alkali- and/or alkaline earth metal nitrate, and a small amount of poly-styrene sulphonate crystal-habit modifier is sprayed as droplets into an atmosphere in which cooling effects crystallization of the ammonium nitrate and which the crystallized particles are dried to remove moisture, wherein the liquid mixture also contains ammonium sulphate, the concentration of poly-styrene sulphonate in the liquid mixture being at least 0.01%, preferably in the range 0.02 to 0.06%, by weight, and the concentration of ammonium sulphate in the liquid mixture being greater than that of the poly-styrene suphonate and at least 0.04%, preferably in the range 0.06 to 0.15%, by weight. Ammonium nitrate bodies, preferably prills, produced by the process may contain less than 0.1% by weight water and be able to absorb not less than 6% of their weight of fuel oil while remaining a pourable particulate material.

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Warners Bay, New South Wales, Australia

Ronald O Peddie