India Revises Ammonium Nitrate Standard for Explosives; BIS Issues Second Revision Draft

2025-06-26 Reference source : BIS

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The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has issued a draft second revision of IS 4668:20XX, the Indian Standard for ammonium nitrate used in explosives. The draft, titled “Ammonium Nitrate for Explosives – Specification (Second Revision)”, was open for public consultation until June 8, 2025.

Ammonium nitrate is widely used in both military and commercial explosive formulations, and the revised standard emphasizes enhanced quality specifications, safety, and testing precision through updated methods and limits.

Key Highlights of the Revised Standard:

Expanded Instrumental Testing: Advanced test methods such as ICP-OES, ICP-MS, and ion chromatography have been added.

• Grade 1 – For ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil)
• Grade 2 – For slurry type explosives
• Grade 3 – For nitroglycerine-based explosives
• Grade 4 – For defense purposes

and sizes:

• Grade 1: 0.8 mm to 2.8 mm
• Grade 2: 2.9 mm to 100 mm
• Grades 3 & 4: As per mutual agreement

The characteristics and requirements for ammonium nitrate for explosives have been specified as follows:

Sl. No.	Characteristic	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4
	Moisture (% by mass, Max)	0.3	3.0	0.1	0.15
	Matter insoluble in water (% by mass, Max)	0.3	0.05	0.01	0.25
	Non-volatile matter (% by mass, Max)	0.2	-	0.1	1.0
	Chlorides as Cl (% by mass, Max)	-	0.05	0.006	0.05
	Nitrates as ammonium nitrate (% by mass, Max)	-	0.02	0.0005	0.001
	Acidity as nitric acid (% by mass, Max)	-	0.01	0.01	0.01
	Iron as Fe (% by mass, Max)	-	0.002	0.002	-
	Calcium as calcium nitrite (% by mass, Max)	-	0.5	-	-
	pH of 10% aqueous solution	-	5–6	4–7	-
	Organic matter (% by mass, Max)	0.5	Nil	0.1	0.5
	Grit (% by mass, Max)	-	Nil	Nil	Nil
	Purity (dry basis, % by mass, Min)	99.2	99.0	99.8	98.7
	Other metals and compounds (% by mass, Max)	-	-	0.02	0.02
	Phenols or phenolic bodies	-	-	Pass	Pass
	Pyridine (% by mass, Max)	-	-	Nil	0.003
	Thiocyanate (% by mass, Max)	-	-	Nil	0.002
	Prussian blue (% by mass, Max)	-	-	Nil	0.1
	Oil absorption (% by mass, Min)	7	-	-	-
	Bulk density (g/cm³)	0.75–0.85	-	0.92–1.02	-
	Total nitrogen (% by mass, Min)	34.5	-	-	-
	Sulphates (% by mass, Max)	-	-	0.03	0.6

Compliance and Certification

Ammonium nitrate products that conform to this revised standard will be eligible for Standard Mark certification under the Bureau of Indian Standards’ (BIS) conformity assessment schemes as per the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016.

This standard brings India’s explosives sector into line with the latest safety, quality, and environmental best practices, ensuring improved manufacturing and handling protocols.

We acknowledge that the above information has been compiled from BIS.

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India Revises Ammonium Nitrate Standard for Explosives; BIS Issues Second Revision Draft

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