ok ive done some research recently on this. from my research i have determined that infact MEKPAN mixtures produce a more powerfull explosion than APAN mixtures, and if prepared in the right way emit a 10 ft fire ball 2 sec before detonation.

i arrived at this conclusion when i was looking at the hydrolic pressure liquids experience when a force acts on them, this can be observed by how a watermelon, or a potato explodes with a small ammount of AP or HTMD or whatever. the force of the explosion, coupled with the resultant hydrolic pressure created by the watermelon or whatever being ~60% water, and of course the fact that the hot gasses created have no where to go.

anyways the velocities of the fragments thrown from the explosion are increased due to the massive hydraulic pressure due to the explosive force.

this is what makes MEKPAN effectively more 'powerful' than APAN. one other factor is that because of the liquid nature of MEKP you generally get a more complete detonation with MEKPAN than with APAN.

so if you didnt get it yet....the MEKP being a liquid plus the finely ground AN makes for a massive hydraulic force PLUS the usual explosive force from the detonation of AN, which in total makes for a greater velocity of thrown particles (larger hole, more spread of what used to be in the place of the hole)

anyways thats what i have found out from my recent research on APAN and MEKPAN mixtures. detonated with about ~1-3g AP cap.

oh and about the fire ball thing, fill a tin can full o' MEKPAN slurry insert the cap, pack some tissue around the cap tube and tape it up. light fuse, when the fuse gets like 2cm from the AP CAP it ignites the MEKP soaked into the tissue, resulting in a nice fireball and your mates saying "you suck, is that all???" *pause* *KABOOOOM*

Interesting. What percentage of each mixture was a peroxide? I ask because I think, from experience, the ratios used in AN mixes makes a big difference in power.

As for the fireball. A similar thing happened when I was trying to set off some APAN with 20% AP. Only problem was, there was no explosion afterwards. Only a little poof of fire that didnt even destroy the detonator.

ok it appears i left out a very important morsel of information. ratios.

i use 2:1 AN:Peroxide

the fact is that with a liquid peroxide you get the hydraulic pressure bonus, and the fact that more of the AN molecules are surrounded by peroside because its much easier to more completely mix a liquid and a powder than a powder and a powder

I've heard of MEKP being used as a solvent for AP, the ratio being 1:1. I was wondering if anyone had ever tried dissolving some AP in MEKP as mentioned and then mixing it with AN, and if so is it more powerful than simple MEKPAN.

I would say the hydraulic pressure thing is crap.
Sorry, but because an explosive contains a liquid, it will not create liqiud pressures AFTER detonation (think of kinepack, or NG which is completely liquid).

Instead, DURING detonation all stuff converts to gasses - no hydraulic pressure. You have the detonation pressure (brisance) and afterwords the pressure of the hot gasses (heaving action, expansion work).

You may be right that it is stronger than APAN, as the MEKP fills the gaps in the AN, giving a denser mix. More density = more brisance!
Pressing APAN to the same density would be suicide ... :p

Wow, long time since I was last here. It look nice :D .

An explosive hydraulic action would only experienced where the charge is powerful enough to overcome and disperse the surrounding liquid/emulsion and where the liquid/emulsion is inert. If the body of liquid is large enough to withstand the blast via displacement, another effect is noticed(jump to **).

This is testament to the surprising effect of small charges on citrus fruits and watermelons. The cells in an orange for example contain alot of water and are flexible to some degree. As the charge detonates, the shock front can pass through the fruit without rupturing the outer skin. It is the expanding gases (or secondary blast effects) which follow the shock front that stretch then rupture and fragment the fruit's structure and send it flying in all directions.

The reason why the same powerful effect is not seen in charges surrounded with a solid is because crystal or grain fracture occurrs from the shock front allowing the gases produced from the explosion to escape while the fragments follow the gas front at high velocity. Similarly a powder releases gases also through the voids between the particles.

All interesting trivia, but the most probable reason for why you will not find a hydraulic effect when a charge of this supposed MEKP/AN charge detones, is because the shock front passes through the charge before the gas front does. Putting it simply, all the explosive particles are excited before the charge ruptures. The particles may not have fully reacted, but the reaction has already started before the gases of the detonated portions of the charge catch up. A gas front cannot proceed to tear apart the remaining undetonated portion of the charge because the shock wave will have already passed through those portions starting the reaction of detonation. All this relates to the current theory of detonation.

The most likely reason why you will find that MEKP/AN charges outperform AP/AN charges is because the greater intimacy and density of the charge's constituents in the former composition. This has been noted by Boomer.


**When a charged is immersed in a large body of inert liquid/thin-emulsion and detonated, if the body of liquid/emultion is large enough to contain a blast to a large degree the charge can create an explosion-implosion effect. As an explosion proceeds, the gases expand at high speed with great momentum. This momentum can cause a pressure drop as the gas front passes the point where the pressure equalizes with the surrounding environment(the liquid or emultion) due to the forward momentum of the gases. Thus an effective implosion effect can result under the right conditions as the expanding gases reach their fartherest position from where the central charge was and begin to receed under the weight of the surrounding liquid/emulsion. This can produce quite a curious crushing effect!

I'm sure submariners would have experienced this effect if a torpedo managed to detonate in the launch tube of their submarine..... :(