On controlled demolitions and thermite

Quick follow-up to my previous article.

This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive "debunk" because a) I'm not in that business and b) even if Harrit is right it doesn't change anything but a quick google search turned up the following:

Thermite Welding

Thermite welding (TW) (sometimes called thermit welding) is a process which joins metals by heating them with super heated liquid metal from a chemical reaction between a metal oxide and aluminum or other reducing agent, with or without the application of pressure. Filler metal is obtained from the liquid metal.

Source: weldprocedures.com

And this:

The most common thermite is aluminium-iron(III) oxide.

The aluminium reduces the oxide of another metal, most commonly iron oxide, because aluminium is highly combustible:

Fe2O3 + 2Al -> 2Fe + Al2O3 + Heat

The products are aluminium oxide, free elemental iron, and a large amount of heat. The reactants are commonly powdered and mixed with a binder to keep the material solid and prevent separation.

The reaction is used for thermite welding, often used to join rail tracks. Other metal oxides can be used, such as chromium oxide, to generate elementary metal. Copper thermite, using copper oxide, is used for creating electric joints in a process called cadwelding:

3CuO + 2Al -> 3Cu + Al2O3 + Heat

Source: Wikipedia

This:

Thermite was also used in both German and Allied incendiary bombs during World War II. Incendiary bombs usually consisted of dozens of thin thermite-filled canisters (bomblets) ignited by a magnesium fuse. Incendiary bombs destroyed entire cities due to the raging fires that resulted from their use. Cities that primarily consisted of wooden buildings were especially susceptible. These incendiary bombs were utilized primarily during night time air raids. Bomb sights could not be used at night, creating the need to use munitions that could destroy targets without the need for precision placement.

And this:

Quick explanation of thermite:

A mixture of iron oxide Fe2O3 (rust) and aluminum powder. When it is ignited the aluminum powder reacts with the O3 part of the rust in a highly exothermic reaction, the resulting product is molten iron.

Thermite is commonly used in welding, because the molten iron has the ability to seep into cracks in metal. It cal also be used to melt through things as shown in an episode of Brainiac and the movie The Sixth Day.

I have made thermite a few times, but never in large enough batches to burn through anything significant. Aluminum powder is hard to come by and I never had a good enough reason to use what little powder I had.

Source: intstructables.com

And this video of the process in action:




Some basic conclusions based on 15 minutes of searching...

1. Thermite is commonly used in welding especially in railroad tracks - aside from the likelihood that they probably used thermite (and thermite machines) to cut the steel that became part of the World Trade Center...they almost certainly used it to work on and build the subway and train tracks that are located all over Manhattan. If you watch the video I embedded...I've actually SEEN this process take place and I'm pretty sure I've seen it take place in construction areas on the subway.

2. Thermite particles generally consist of iron oxide or aluminum oxide of some type. Iron oxide is red (like the "chips" Niels Harrit found) and is also commonly known as "rust." Could there be some other explanation for RUST to be found in the wreckage of a building that was partially built out of iron, steel and aluminum???

3. Thermite does not just explode by itself. Unless there was actually a guy running around between all three buildings on 9/11 as there were fires raging all around with the machine you saw in the video...it would necessitate the usage of military-grade thermite which...

4. ...if you read the Wikipedia article is terribly imprecise. There's no "thermite timer" that can set a time for explosion. The way thermite burns is that it has to be heated to a certain point and then it combusts and it's game-time. If there actually WAS military-grade thermite planted throughout the buildings, the jet fuel would have ignited it IMMEDIATELY and the buildings would have collapsed on themselves within minutes if not seconds if not instantly after the planes hit them. As any of us who were alive and awake and watching the Manhattan skyline on that terrible day know - that's just not what happened.

Finally there's this article on controlled demolitions. Please note the fact that the word "thermite" never comes up...please also note on the first page that it took them THREE YEARS to destroy a three-building complex in Newark that was about 1/10 the size of the WTC. Please finally also note how much work goes into preparing the buildings for demolition.

I am not a physicist or scientist nor am I an explosives expert by any stretch of the imagination. But if you spend just 20 minutes of your life reading up on this stuff you will see just how implausible this argument is and how many mundane and simple explanations there are for this thermite nonsense.

Then if you do a little bit of digging on Dr. Harrit you'll find that he's been ranting and raving about 9/11 conspiracy theories for a very long time. You'll also find that he's a CHEMISTRY professor...not a structural engineer. He is most decidedly NOT an expert in controlled demolitions. Also the other scientists (Jeffrey Farrer, Steven E. Jones, Kevin R. Ryan, Frank M. Legge, Daniel Farnsworth, Gregg Roberts, James R. Gourley, Bradley R. Larsen) who collaborated on this study are all either devoted 9/11 "truthers" who have been desperately trying to prove their case for years, or relative unknowns with no other work to speak of.

In some cases these guys have degrees in sociology and psychology as opposed to chemistry or engineering which qualifies them to comment on the effects of the paranoia their work causes...NOT on the work itself.

It will take a while most likely for a scientific debunking of this "theory" - in the meantime the conspiracy people will be hooting and hollering about how they FINALLY have the scientific proof that's eluded them for years. Well hooray for them!

UPDATE: There is now a final update to this topic that specifically deals with the points that the report that sparked all of this brought up. I highly recommend reading it as it really should close the lid on this issue once and for all.