NANOPARTICLES IN EXPERIMENTS ON DESTRUCTION OF ROCKS BY EXPLOSION

Abstract

This paper presents the first (among works known to the authors) experimental study of nanoparticles formed during large-scale chemical explosions. We clarify that the investigated objects are characterized as nanoscale objects (sizes from 1 to 1000 nm) and microscale objects (from 1 to 1000 μm), which allows us to use the classification of particles on the basis of their size. Nanoparticles and microparticles play a significant role in the environment. They can both pollute and clean the atmosphere, because they serve as condensation centers during the formation of poisonous aerosols (SO2, NOx, and others). They also influence the transparency and chemistry of the atmosphere, transport heavy metals and radioactive isotopes, and ultimately influence the climate. Due to the small size and high dispersion, nanoparticles are characterized by high mobility, significant pressure of water vapor, and long lifetime in the atmosphere (approximately 100 days). According to present-day estimates, more than 10% of the total mass of fine-dispersed dust and aerosols in the Earth’s atmosphere is related to human activity. One of their significant sources is large-scale chemical explosions.