Airbag Recalls

In 2008, a few thousand cars were recalled in the USA to have "faulty" Takata airbags replaced.
By 2016, tens of millions of cars world-wide are being recalled to have these "faulty" airbags replaced.
What is causing these particular airbags to rupture violently, sending lethal metal fragments flying through the car's interior?

If you subscribe to AUS-e-NEWS, AUS-e-TUTE's free quarterly newsletter for chemistry students and teachers, you will recall the issue in which we discussed the use of sodium azide, a compound that undergoes explosive thermal decomposition at temperatures well above ambient, to produce nitrogen gas to inflate the airbags used in cars.

What if you wanted to produce a cheaper airbag? Is there another, readily available, inexpensive, compound that can undergo explosive decomposition and produce lots of gas to fill an airbag? Yes there is, ammonium nitrate, NH₄NO₃, which is used in fertilizers, and, in explosives for mining and quarrying.

When anhydrous ammonium nitrate is heated above its melting point of 169.6°C, liquid ammonium nitrate decomposes to gaseous nitrous oxide (N₂O) and water vapor (H₂O) as shown in the balanced chemical equation below:
NH₄NO_3(l) → N₂O(g) + 2H₂O(g)
But this reaction is not explosive and therefore not suitable for use in airbags which must inflate incredibly quickly.
In order to produce an explosive decomposition of ammonium nitrate, you need to detonate it, which is the process that occurs if you use it in an airbag. The detonation of ammonium nitrate produces nitrogen gas, oxygen gas and water vapor, as shown in the balanced chemical equation below:
NH₄NO₃ → N_2(g) + ½O_2(g) + 2H₂O(g)

At first sight, this reaction looks like a much better, that is, safer choice, than the sodium azide reaction. But what happens if moisture gets into your airbag?
Ammonium nitrate readily dissolves in water, but if there is only a small amount of moisture present, the ammonium nitrate will "clump" together. At around 32°C (the temperature inside a pretty warm car) there is a phase transition in which the new phase occupies a greater volume than the previous phase which results in "cracking" of the "clumped" ammonium nitrate grains. These cracks can lead to catastrophic behaviour when the ammonium nitrate is detonated in the airbag, that is, the thermal decomposition of cracked ammonium nitrate grains is far more forceful and uncotrolled than that of anhydrous ammonium nitrate.

In order to safely use ammonium nitrate as the airbag propellant, you need to incorporate two safety features:

1.  a drying agent or desiccant to remove moisture and prevent "clumping" the ammonium nitrate
2.  a phase stabilizer to stabilize the phases to prevent "cracking"

Other airbag manufacturers do not use ammonium nitrate. In 2014, Key Safety Systems was reported to be using guanidine nitrate

and tetrazole

in the manufacture of its airbags.

Further Reading:
Definitions of a Mole
Mass-mole Calculations 
Molar Gas Volume Calculations 
Reaction Calculations: Mass and Moles

Suggested Study Questions:

1. What does the term "anhydrous" mean?
2. Why is a desiccant used in a desiccator?
3. Give the name and chemical formula for two commonly used desiccants in the school laboratory.
4. Write the molecular formula for each of the following compounds:
   • ammonium nitrate
   • nitrogen gas
   • oxygen gas
   • water vapor
   • nitrous oxide
   • guanidine nitrate
   • tetrazole
5. Calculate the molar mass of each of the following compounds:
   • ammonium nitrate
   • nitrogen gas
   • oxygen gas
   • water vapor 
   • nitrous oxide
6. Consider the chemical equation for the thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate. If 2 moles of ammonium nitrate decomposed, how many moles of each of the following products would be produced?
   • nitrous oxide
   • water
7.  Consider the chemical equation for the thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate. If 2.00 g of ammonium nitrate decomposed, calculate the mass of each of the following products in grams:
   • nitrous oxide
   • water
8. Consider the chemical equation for the detonation of ammonium nitrate in an airbag. If 2 moles of ammonium nitrate were detonated, how many moles of each of the following compounds would be produced?
   • nitrogen gas
   • oxygen gas
   • water vapor
9. Consider the chemical equation for the detonation of ammonium nitrate in an airbag. If 2.00 g of ammonium nitrate were detonated, what mass in grams of each of the following compounds would be produced?
   • nitrogen gas
   • oxygen gas
   • water vapor
10. Consider the chemical equation for the detonation of ammonium nitrate in an airbag. Calculate the mass of ammonium nitrate that would be required in order to fill a 70 L airbag at 25°C

Nitrous Oxide Ban

On Saturday 29^th August 2015, Brisbane's Couriermail reported that, "Supermarkets have removed nitrous oxide canisters from their shelves because of the alarming trend of people using the gas to get high".
Nitrous oxide, N₂O, commonly known as "laughing gas", is found as an additive in food (E942). It has been used as an aerosol propellant in whipped cream canisters and cooking sprays, and has also been used as an inert gas to displace oxygen from food packages like potato chips to prevent the food from spoiling. The nitrous oxide canisters being removed from supermarket shelves refer to the small canisters used to re-charge re-usable whipped cream dispensers. Nitrous oxide is soluble in fats and oils so it is pumped into the fatty cream inside the dispenser where it dissolves. When the cream leaves the dispenser, the gas pressure inside the cream is greater than atmospheric pressure, so the nitrous oxide gas leaves the cream quickly, creating a foam. This "whipped cream" has about 4 times the volume of the original cream. However, if the whipped cream is left standing for some minutes, the gas pressure equilibrates with atmospheric pressure and the cream reverts to the "unwhipped" state.
Nitrous oxide has been the preferred choice for whipped cream dispensers because it does not react with the food and prevents it from spoiling. If air were used, the oxygen in the air would accelerate the rate of oxidation causing the cream to spoil. Carbon dioxide gas is not used because it would dissolve in the water present in the cream which would lower the pH and the cream would curdle.

In the laboratory, nitrous oxide can be produced by the thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate (which is explosive!):

NH₄NO₃(s) → 2H₂O(g) + N₂O(g)

It can also be produced by heating a mixture of sodium nitrate and ammonium sulfate:

2NaNO₃ + (NH₄)₂SO₄ → Na₂SO₄ + 2N₂O + 4H₂O

Nitrous oxide has been used in dentistry as an anaesthetic for more than a century.
The chemistry of how nitrous oxide reacts in the body to produce a "high" is not well understood, but research continues.

Further Reading
Density
Types of Chemical Reactions
Molecular Formula
Name and Formula of Covalent Compounds
Fats and Oils 
Solubility and Le Chatelier's Principle
Mass-mole Calculations
Mass and Moles in Chemical reactions 
Molar Volume of Gases 
Safety in the Laboratory

Suggestion Study Questions:

1. Give the molecular formula for each of the following compounds: 
   • nitric oxide
   • nitrogen dioxide
   • nitrous oxide
   • dintrogen tetroxide
2.  Name each of the following compounds:
   • CO₂
   • CO
   • SO₂
   • SO₃
   • PCl₃
   • PCl₅
3.  Draw possible Lewis (electron dot) structures for each of the following compounds:
   • nitric oxide
   • nitrogen dioxide
   • nitrous oxide
   • dintrogen tetroxide
4.  "..whipped-cream has four times the volume of the original cream", describe what has happened to the density of the cream as a result of the "whipping" process.
5. When I order an "iced-coffee" at a Cafe, they usually top it with some whipped-cream from a canister . Why does the whipped-cream float on top of the ice-coffee drink?
6. If I don't the spoon the whipped-cream off the top of my "iced-coffee" I can stir it into the drink quite easily without it floating to the surface again. Explain why this happens.
7. Explain what is meant by the term "fats and oils" when used by a Chemist and give examples.
8. Most aerosol cans contain a warning to the effect that you should not heat the can. Explain what would happen if you heated a dispenser of whipped-cream containing nitrous oxide. 
9. Imagine placing 10 grams of ammonium nitrate in a 500 mL sealed steel can, which you then (very irresponsively!) throw onto a bonfire.
• Calculate the moles of ammonium nitrate in the can
• Calculate the moles of nitrous oxide gas produced 
• Calculate the volume of this number of moles of gas at 25^oC
• Predict what will happen to the sealed steel can in the bonfire. 
10. Your company, "Ammo-nite", sells ammonium nitrate to farmers for use as a fertiliser. You have been asked to re-design the 100 g package so that it includes relevant safety precautions.

Ammonium Nitrate Explodes

On Friday 6^th September 2014, a truck carrying 56 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded after rolling over near a bridge on the Mitchell Highway between Cunnamulla and Charleville in the Australian State of Queensland. Eight people were injured, and the Mitchell Highway has been closed "indefinitely".

The most important use for ammonium nitrate is as a fertilizer, but it can also be used as an explosive. An explosion results when ammonium nitrate is brought into contact with heat, a source of ignition such as a spark, or, with reducing agents. Unfortunately, explosions of ammonium nitrate are not rare. A massive explosion of ammonium nitrate on 17^th April 2013 resulted in the death of 15 people, and the destruction of the West Fertilizer Company storage and distribution facility in Texas, USA.

Ammonium nitrate can be produced in commercial quantities by reacting ammonia gas with  nitric acid.

Reference: 
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/truck-explosion-injures-eight-closes-mitchell-highway-20140906-10dam3.html

Further Reading
Naming Ionic Compounds 
Writing Ionic Formula 
Mole Definitions 
Molar Gas Volumes

Suggested Study Questions:

1. Write the chemical formula for ammonium nitrate 
2. Explain why this compound is considered to be an ionic compound.
3. Write a word equation for the reaction between ammonia gas and nitric acid to produce ammonium nitrate
4. Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction in question 3.
5. Ammonium nitrate decomposes in to N₂O and H₂O when heated. Write a balanced chemical equation for this reaction.
6. Calculate the molar mass of ammonium nitrate.
7. Calculate the moles of ammonium nitrate present in the truck.
8. Assuming that the decomposition of ammonium nitrate results only in gaseous products, what volume of gas at 25^oC and 100 kPa would be released by ammonium nitrate in the truck?
9. Assume the truck could carry a load with a volume of 30,000 L. Can you suggest a reason why rapidly decomposing ammonium nitrate could explode, destroying the truck, the bridge and the road?