Nonel is a

shock tube detonator A shock tube detonator is a non-electric explosive fuse (explosives), fuze or pyrotechnic initiator, initiator in the form of small-diameter hollow plastic tube (fluid conveyance), tubing used to transport an initiating signal to an explosive by me ...

designed to initiate explosions, generally for the purpose of

demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...

of buildings and for use in the blasting of rock in mines and quarries. Nonel is a

contraction Contraction may refer to: Linguistics * Contraction (grammar), a shortened word * Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons * Elision, omission of sounds ** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word * Synalepha, merged ...

of "non electric". Instead of electric wires, a hollow plastic tube delivers the firing impulse to the

detonator A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electri ...

, making it immune to most of the hazards associated with stray electric current. It consists of a small diameter, three-layer plastic tube coated on the innermost wall with a reactive explosive compound, which, when ignited, propagates a low energy signal, similar to a dust explosion. The reaction travels at approximately 2,000 m/s (6,500 ft/s) along the length of the tubing with minimal disturbance outside of the tube. The design of nonel detonators incorporates patented technology, including the Cushion Disk (CD) and Delay Ignition Buffer (DIB) to provide reliability and accuracy in all blasting applications. Nonel was invented by the Swedish company Nitro Nobel in the 1960s and 1970s, under the leadership of Per-Anders Persson, and launched to the demolitions market in 1973. (Nitro Nobel became a part of

Dyno Nobel Dyno Nobel is a manufacturer of explosives. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Incitec Pivot Limited operating in Australia, Canada, the United States, Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, South America, Papua New Guinea and Turkey. They provide the expl ...

after being sold to Norwegian Dyno Industrier AS in 1986.)

References

Further reading