Historical Background and Current Status of China Made Mixed Explosive Trucks

Explosive Bulk Truck Mixing And Charging Multi-functional Heavy Ammonium Oil Explosives Truck

On-site Mixed Explosive Trucks: High Efficiency, Safety and Dynamic Monitoring System

1 Historical Background and Current Status of Domestic Mixed Explosive Trucks

Special Automobile Factory (formerly Changzhi Mining Machinery Plant) began research and production of blasting charging machinery back in the 1960s, making it China’s earliest manufacturer of charging machines. Models BQF-100 and BQ-100, developed and manufactured in the early 1960s, are still widely used in numerous small and medium-sized mines today. These rudimentary charging machines represented an improvement over purely manual charging operations.

To boost the mechanization level of charging work, Special Automobile Factory collaborated with Maanshan Mining Research Institute and Nanshan Iron Mine of Maanshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. in 1965 to develop the YC-Z open-pit bulk ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) charging truck. The model passed appraisal organized by the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry at Nanshan Iron Mine in 1969. Later, multiple variants including BC-8 and BC-15 were rolled out, with a total output of over 20 units across all models.

During this period, ANFO was formulated from powdered ammonium nitrate, diesel fuel and fine powder. Raw materials tended to absorb moisture, adhere to tank walls and cake inside storage bins, resulting in bridging and hanging material. Manual auxiliary feeding was therefore mandatory; otherwise, caked explosives would stick to metering devices during conveyance and cause inaccurate measurement. At that time, pneumatic conveying was universally adopted for explosive feeding. High-speed friction between explosive particles inside delivery pipes generated static electricity. Since non-electric detonator systems had not yet been invented, electric detonators were deployed, posing severe risks of premature detonation. Plagued by multiple inherent drawbacks, most of these early charging vehicles were eventually phased out.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Canada developed porous prilled ammonium nitrate and pioneered the production of porous prilled ANFO. A desiccant was added during granulation, yielding free-flowing prills resistant to caking with abundant internal pores and high oil absorption capacity. Its formulation process was vastly simplified compared with powdered ANFO: porous prilled ammonium nitrate only required simple on-site mixing with diesel at a fixed ratio to form usable explosives. By contrast, powdered ANFO demanded complicated preparation steps including crushing and drying in roller mills, followed by blending with diesel and TNT, which generated heavy industrial pollution and could only be completed in dedicated, large-scale explosive processing workshops. Porous prilled ANFO featured simple mixing procedures, anti-caking and low moisture absorption properties, zero TNT content, excellent fluidity and convenient bulk handling, laying a solid foundation for full mechanization of blasting charging.

Meanwhile, companies including E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company (EIEC) and AM Corporation from the United States, ICI Canada and the former Soviet Union leveraged the simple formulation advantage of prilled ANFO and integrated mixing and charging functions into one mobile unit, developing on-site prilled ANFO mixing trucks. Thanks to their outstanding comprehensive performance, such vehicles were rapidly popularized worldwide, marking an industry transition from standalone charging trucks to integrated on-site mixing trucks.

Advancements in explosive formulations drove iterative upgrades of mixing trucks. Following the invention of slurry, water-gel, emulsion and heavy ANFO explosives, matching dedicated mixing trucks were successively developed. In 1963, EIEC of the United States launched the first slurry explosive mixing truck, which stored different raw materials in separate onboard tanks for on-site mixing and direct charging into blast holes. Sweden’s Nobel Company rolled out equivalent equipment shortly afterwards. In the 1970s, manufacturers in the United States, Canada and Sweden developed emulsion explosive on-site mixing trucks. In 1983, EIEC successfully commercialized heavy ANFO on-site mixing vehicles.

During the same era, open-pit blasting operations in China still relied on primitive, inefficient workflows involving manual transportation and charging of finished explosives produced in centralized processing plants. Nevertheless, global technological progress inevitably propelled domestic industry transformation.

Approved by the State Planning Commission, State Economic and Trade Commission and Ministry of Machinery Industry in 1984, Special Automobile Factory signed a technology import contract with EIEC of the United States in 1986. The agreement covered three categories of on-site mixed explosive trucks (prilled ANFO, emulsion and heavy ANFO variants) and matching ground auxiliary facilities (ground stations), enabling domestic design and localized manufacturing of complete sets of on-site mixing equipment and ground stations.

2 Advantages of On-site Mixed Explosive Trucks

An on-site mixed explosive truck integrates transportation of explosive raw materials and semi-finished products, on-site mixing at blasting sites and blast-hole charging into a single mobile platform. Its core strengths are summarized as follows:

1. Enhanced Safety: The vehicle never transports finished explosives. Only raw materials and semi-finished explosive intermediates are stored in onboard bins, which are proportionally blended automatically at blasting locations and directly charged into blast holes.

2. Simple Formulation: Raw materials are widely accessible at relatively low procurement costs.

3. Low Environmental Pollution: Far less toxic emissions compared with TNT-based explosives, safeguarding operators’ occupational health.

4. Precise Metering: Measurement error is controlled within ±2%.

5. High Automation & Easy Operation: Power is extracted from the vehicle chassis engine via hydraulic transmission regulated by microcomputer control. Automatic operations cover proportional feeding of raw materials, charging speed adjustment and single-hole charge volume control, delivering stable and reliable performance.

6. Ultra-high Charging Efficiency: Screw pump conveying delivers a charging rate of 200–280 kg per minute, while spiral conveying reaches 400–450 kg per minute — dozens of times faster than fully manual charging.

7. No Requirement for Explosive Magazines: Explosives are mixed and charged instantly on demand, eliminating capital investment and daily management costs for dedicated explosive storage depots, as well as latent safety hazards during long-term stockpiling.

8. Superior Blasting Outcomes: Intelligent closed-loop control ensures precise matching of each explosive component. Charging commences from the bottom of blast holes to achieve tight coupling between explosives and hole walls, raising charge density. Multiple explosives with varying densities and formulations can be sequentially loaded into one blast hole to fully release explosive energy, reducing oversize rock fragments and bottom toe rock. Compared with conventional packaged explosives, hole pattern parameters can be expanded by 20%–30%, cutting blast hole drilling quantity by 25%–30% and substantially lowering overall drilling and blasting costs.

9. Compact Supporting Infrastructure: The truck replaces fixed explosive processing plants, only requiring a matched ground station (fixed or mobile) for raw material storage and semi-finished product preparation. Ground stations feature smaller footprints, simpler building structures, lower safety classification requirements and drastically reduced construction investment versus full-scale explosive factories.

10. Flexible Deployment: Operations are not restricted by time windows, long-distance transportation limits or storage capacity constraints.

3 Development of Mixed Explosive Trucks

3.1 Evolution of Vehicle Product Lines

The on-site mixed explosive technology initially imported by Shanxi Huifeng Special Automobile only covered three standard 15-ton models: BCRH-15 on-site mixed emulsion explosive truck, BCZH-15 heavy ANFO mixing truck and BCLH-15 prilled ANFO mixing truck. Single-size models failed to satisfy diverse output demands from mines of varying scales. The enterprise therefore launched full serialization development based on the three original vehicle platforms. Over more than 20 years of continuous innovation on imported technologies, four major product families comprising 26 distinct variants have been established:

1. L Series (BCLH Series)Designed for on-site mixing of prilled ANFO, a cost-effective explosive ideal for dry blast holes. Split into two sub-series:

• BCLH-X models: BCLH-4, BCLH-6, BCLH-8, BCLH-12, BCLH-15, BCLH-20 (6 variants)

• BCLH-XG models: BCLH-8G, BCLH-15G (the 15G type includes front-mounted and rear-mounted configurations)

2. R Series (BCRH Series)Specialized in on-site emulsion explosive mixing with outstanding water resistance for water-filled blast holes; modified variants support heavy ANFO blending with added prilled ammonium nitrate. Divided into two sub-series:

• BCRH-X (on-board emulsification): BCRH-8, BCRH-12, BCRH-20, BCRH-25 (4 models, each with dry-material and dry-material-free options). The BCRH-15 emulsion mixing truck won the Second Prize for National Major Technical Equipment Achievements awarded by the State Council Major Equipment Office, and the National Seventh Five-Year Plan Key Science and Technology Breakthrough Award jointly issued by the State Planning Commission, State Science and Technology Commission and Ministry of Finance.

• BCR(D)H-X (ground-side emulsification): BCR(D)H-8, BCR(D)H-15 (2 models, each available with or without dry-material feeders)

3. Z Series (BCZH Series)Multi-functional integrated trucks capable of mixing emulsion, prilled ANFO and heavy ANFO on site. Models: BCZH-8, BCZH-12, BCZH-15, BCZH-20, BCZH-25 (5 variants)

4. Underground Mining Vehicle SeriesAdopting the same working principle as the R Series, this product line has significantly elevated domestic mechanization standards for underground mining and tunneling operations.

3.2 Iterative Upgrade of Generational Products

After over two decades of technological iteration, four generations of products have been developed:

1. First Generation (1970s)Representative models: YC-2, BC-8, BC-15 Technical characteristics: Pre-loaded finished explosives, mechanical transmission, mechanical metering and counting, pneumatic conveying.

2. Second Generation (1990s, technology imported from EIEC)Representative models: BCLH-15 prilled ANFO mixing truck (side spiral and overhead spiral configurations), BCRH-15 on-board emulsification emulsion truck (produces pure emulsion and heavy emulsion with 20% dry material), BCZH-15 multi-purpose heavy ANFO truck (ground-side emulsification; maximum loading: 10 t pure ANFO, 5 t pure emulsion, 15 t heavy emulsion at a 7:3 ratio). Limited to single fixed formulations. Matching ground stations were supplied for all three vehicle types. Technical characteristics: Tanks store raw materials or semi-finished intermediates (e.g., emulsion matrix) mixed into explosives only after arriving at blasting sites, followed by direct blast-hole charging. Hydraulic systems adopted discrete modular components with cumbersome parameter adjustment. The BCZH-15 multi-functional model required four independent hydraulic assemblies for four separate formulations, all manually adjusted by operators inside the cab. Nominal metering error stood at ±2%, yet prilled ANFO and heavy ANFO vehicles often failed to meet this standard. Electrical control systems relied on toggle switches, relays and mechanical counters.

3. Third Generation (Major innovations over Gen 2)Technical characteristics: Discrete hydraulic components replaced with stacked valve manifolds; manual regulating valves upgraded to electro-hydraulic proportional valves. Intelligent flowmeters with electrical signal output enabled computerized closed-loop control. PLC-based electrical systems realized real-time tracking and precise proportional matching of explosive components to maximize energy utilization. Built-in safety interlocks trigger automatic shutdown upon over-temperature, over-pressure or flow interruption. Ground stations adopted partial computerized automation.

4. Fourth Generation (Further upgrades on Gen 3 technologies)Technical characteristics: Mass flowmeters deployed for ultra-precise raw material distribution, with water and oil phase dosing accuracy up to 0.01 kg. Metering precision of prilled ANFO and heavy ANFO trucks improved from ±2% to ±1%. Integrated IoT technologies support real-time data uploading, static off-board emulsification and one-click fully automatic startup of ground stations, achieving comprehensive digital operation. Equipped with GPS positioning and remote real-time transmission of operational data and video footage.

3.3 Evolution of Control Systems

Over two decades, the control architecture of mixing trucks has advanced toward full digitization, informatization and intelligence. In compliance with MIIT regulations and market supervision requirements, the enterprise independently developed the Second-Generation Dynamic Monitoring System for Industrial Explosive On-site Mixing Trucks. The control system integrates real-time detection, data acquisition, safety interlock protection, measurement & control and wireless communication modules, encompassing four core subsystems: production scheduling control, safety data monitoring, geographic location tracking and video surveillance. A built-in real-time printer is configured, and seamless full-coverage wireless connectivity delivers a fully automated integrated control platform for real-time, safe and reliable management of all explosive production data.

Core Features of the Second-Generation Dynamic Monitoring System

1. All hardware components upgraded to high-standard, high-safety and high-reliability certified products, eliminating quality risks stemming from low-performance parts while enabling timely and accurate fault diagnosis.

2. Second-generation human-machine interaction (HMI) interfaces supporting multi-mode input, with optimized display clarity for all operational indicators. All embedded software adopts officially licensed versions certified for safety and stability, boosting overall system responsiveness and operational security.

3. New proprietary control algorithms deployed for data processing, further elevating metering precision.

4. Hybrid database architecture combining real-time operational databases and historical archiving databases, offering strong versatility and expandability as a benchmark application of advanced database technology.

5. Enhanced GPS positioning module: GPS coordinates and synchronized timestamps are superimposed onto all recorded surveillance videos. Additional functional modules include electronic geofencing and full driving route tracking. Real-time longitude and latitude data are displayed in the top-right corner of the system HMI and automatically embedded into all production logs. Remote network monitoring allows real-time review of vehicle travel trajectories from any location. On-board adjustable camera coverage ensures complete visual oversight of blast-hole charging operations to satisfy regulatory supervision mandates.

4 Conclusion

China’s on-site mixed explosive truck industry has developed for more than 30 years. Thanks to outstanding safety performance, ultra-high efficiency and precise dosing, such vehicles have gradually replaced outdated manual charging workflows, fundamentally resolving low productivity bottlenecks in open-pit mine blasting. The launch of dedicated dynamic information monitoring systems for industrial explosive mixing trucks has pushed the whole industry’s safety production and real-time supervision capability to an unprecedented level.

At present, underground tunneling and mining blasting still predominantly rely on simple charging machines, mainly due to the unique operational constraints of underground environments and the relative immaturity of underground-specific mixing truck technology. With continuous R&D investment from manufacturers, underground mixing vehicles will gain broader market penetration in the future.

Adhering to the core principle of safe and efficient operation to meet diversified mine blasting demands, on-site mixed explosive trucks have become indispensable core equipment for mining operations. Further optimization of vehicle management and application standards will unlock greater value for China’s infrastructure and mineral resource development in the long run.

Series Classification

1. BCLH Series: On-site Mixed ANFO Explosive Truck

2. BCRH / BCZH Series: On-site Mixed Emulsion Explosive Truck

Heavy ANFO Explosive Mixing And Charging Truck with Multiple Mix Units for  Mining Blast

   We supply a mobile manufacturing unit (MMU) which can be engineered for customers with small or large operations.  Our multiple mixing units  is capable of augering ANFO and Heavy ANFO and pumping blended product in blast holes at surface mining operations.  Not all mining operations are huge, and when the market demanded a cost effective solution for smaller operations, a mobile unit seemed an obvious choice. 

   Field mixing and Charging heavy ANFO truck is also known as multi-functional  On-site mixed explosive loading truck, which is the combination of two kinds of vehicle functions: field mixing emulsion explosive truck and field mixing charging porous granular ANFO truck, and the functions are greatly increased after combination.   Pure emulsion explosive, porous granular ANFO explosive, heavy emulsion explosive and heavy ANFO explosive can be mixed on site.   And the ratio of emulsion explosive and porous granular ANFO explosive can be adjusted at will between 100:0 and 0:100.   The emulsion explosive is mainly (greater than or equal to 50%), and the porous granular ANFO explosive is supplemented (less than or equal to 50%).   This explosive is called heavy emulsion explosive, and the common ratio is 7:3, which is suitable for water cannon holes with hard rock hardness.   The porous granular ANFO explosive is mainly (greater than equal 50%), and the emulsified explosive is secondary (less than or equal to 50%), this explosive is called heavy ANFO explosive, and the common ratio is 5:5, this explosive is used for waterless cannon holes with hard rock hardness.   This kind of in-situ mixed explosive truck is suitable for both water hole and dry hole, and can meet various blasting projects

BCZH-20  quad multi-functional Explosive Mixing And Charging truck utilizes load-sensing proportional hydraulics and a closed loop control system to efficiently and accurately control the mixing ratio of ANFO, emulsion, and chemical gassing agents. The quad vehicle is capable of pumping or augering a full range of bulk products: 100% bulk emulsion, various heavy ANFO blends and100% ANFO. The control system is fully automated and feature on-board data logging and diagnostics. The unit utilizes a configurable static mixer column and water ring lubrication system to reduce pumping pressure through the length of the hose.

to delivering explosives to an opencast surface mine, a mobile solution works best.  What the industry needed was a way to take different explosive products directly to the bench in an active mine and to be able to prepare the explosives compound on site.  The structure would be mounted on the rear chassis of a customised truck and therefore allow for full mobility.  Contact us for more information on our reliable and durable equipment.

Our multiple mixing units have the ability to manufacture ANFO and Heavy ANFO to auger or pump a blended product into blast holes.  Bins are generally permanently fixed to the chassis.  These units consist of an ammonium nitrate storage bin, emulsion storage tank, fuel oil tank, water tank, hose reel and optional product additions tanks.

The product is discharged using a side-mounted discharge auger, or pumped into a wet blast hole using a loading hose.  Emulsion is generally added to the ANFO in the discharge auger.  A helical rotor pump is used to transfer the product during the wet hole loading process.

Hose reels can be manufactured to suit the various discharge rates and hose diameters as required.  These reels are usually driven using a reduction gearbox.  These reels are driven using a reduction gearbox to give optimum control of the hose feed rate in the hole.

To achieve a waterproof product, at least 50% emulsion will need to be added.  However, to obtain a product that can be reliably pumped, you will need to use waterproof heavy ANFO with between 60-70% emulsion.  Heavy ANFO is pumped through a hose, with the hose retracting as loading proceeds.

BCRH-20 Emulsion truck utilizes load-sensing proportional hydraulics and a closed loop control system to efficiently and accurately control the ratio of the pumped emulsion and chemical gassing agents. Emulsion is pumped through a progressive cavity pump, while high pressure piston pumps supply gassing agent and water flow. Emulsion hauling capacity is 15MT, and the delivery rate can be varied from 100-300kg/min. The control system is fully automated and features on-board data logging and diagnostics. The emulsion re-pump truck utilizes a configurable static mixer column and water ring lubrication system to reduce pumping pressure through the length of the hose.

BCLH-20 ANFO truck utilizes load-sensing proportional hydraulics and a closed loop control system to efficiently and accurately control the mixing and loading of ANFO. The control system delivers automation, wireless remote control, on-board data logging and diagnostics. The body is available with either an overhead or side boom auger configuration. ANFO hauling capacity is 15MT, and the ANFO discharge rate can be varied from 100-1000kg/min. The ANFO unit utilizes proportional computer-control and well-designed diesel fuel injection to increase the wetted surface area of AN prill for maximum fuel distribution and absorption.

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