The Emerging Science Around the World Trade Center Destruction Kevin R. Ryan Keene State College, New Hampshire September 12th, 2009

WTC 7 was a 47 story building not hit by a plane It fell in 6.5 seconds

Why did three World Trade Center buildings “collapse” completely? Spain, 2005 Twin towers shortly after WTC2 hit Venezuela, 2004

The WTC towers exploded… then fell into piles of rubble in <12 seconds (per NIST)

“ The building structure would still be there. “ John Skilling

Test results vs. NIST computer * Unavailable to the public Questions Physical tests NIST computer * What were WTC steel temperatures? Up to 250 C Up to 800 C How much could the floors have sagged ? 3 inches after 2 hours of fire 42 inches after < 1 hour of fire What were the actual “collapse” dynamics? No tests done No comment How about WTC 7? No tests done 600 C rise in 1.5 seconds, a few inches of thermal expansion

Different stories, but same people DOD FEMA WTC or Pent. Silverstein Weidlinger NIST Popular Mechanics Gene Corley X X X X X Thornton-Tomasetti X X X X X Levy / Weidlinger X X X X X Mete Sozen X X X Greenhorne & O'Mara X X X ARUP X X X X Paul Mlakar X X X Hughes Associates X X X X William Baker / SOM X X X Jon Magnusson X X X John Gross X X X SGH X X X Mark Loizeaux X * X * Mark Loizeaux was hired to clean up the evidence

Figure 3-11: Fire exposure side of the 35 ft restrained test assembly after almost 2 hours of fire during ASTM E119 test.. NIST said WTC gas temps were only “as high as 1,000 ° Celsius .” NIST responses to FAQs, August 2006, UL tests (ASTM E119) used an average temp. of 1,090 ° Celsius Floors sagged only 3 to 4 inches in mid-section UL Floor tests vs WTC fires

Molten metal at the WTC… Was it Iron or steel… Or Aluminum?

Unexplained corrosion and holes in WTC steel “ The severe corrosion and subsequent erosion of Samples 1 [WTC7] and 2 [Towers] are a very unusual event. No clear explanation for the source of the sulfur has been identified.” FEMA “ A one inch [steel] column has been reduced to half-inch thickness. Its edges--which are curled like a paper scroll--have been thinned to almost razor sharpness. Gaping holes--some larger than a silver dollar—let light shine through a formerly solid steel flange. This Swiss cheese appearance shocked all of the firewise professors, who expected to see distortion and bending--but not holes.” FEMA Comments from Worcester Polytechnic Institute team led by Prof. Jonathon Barnett

Journalof911Studies.com Extremely high temperatures during the World Trade Center destruction Steven E. Jones, Jeffrey Farrer, Gregory S. Jenkins, Frank Legge, James Gourley, Kevin Ryan, Daniel Farnsworth, and Crockett Grabbe.

[Here is] A “vesicular alumino-silicate particle” which exemplifies the “round open porous structure having a Swiss cheese appearance as a result of boiling and evaporation”. “ Various metals (most notably iron and lead) were melted during the WTC Event, producing spherical metallic particles. … high heat exposure of the WTC Dust has also created … spherical, vesicular siliceous [silicate particles] and [these]…are classic examples of high temperature or combustion by-products and are generally absent in typical office dust…” The RJ Lee Report* *Note: RJ Lee firm was hired by Deutsche Bank lawyers to evaluate WTC dust signature

Microspheres - USGS Obtained from USGS via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – a molybdenum -rich spherule which was not mentioned in the earlier reports. No explanation given by USGS for the presence of these iron-rich and silicate spheres that they reported (and which imply very high temperatures along with droplet formation)

Temperatures required to explain evidence Gas temperatures supported by officials

Spikes in VOC Emissions at GZ

Cahill et al, 2003 UC Davis

Thermite Addition of pyrotechnic additives has been found to produce superior thermite for incendiary purposes. Composition by weight is typically ~70% [ Fe 2 O 3 + Al ], ~30% barium nitrate OR potassium permanganate, 2.0% sulfur and 0.3% binder.

Photomicrographs of WTC dust Typical WTC dust sample Particles extracted from WTC dust with magnet

Magnetic red and grey chips

WTC Red/Gray chip Un-ignited nanothermite Nanothermite ignition

Four samples of WTC dust

Photomicrographs of red/gray chips from samples 1-4 of the WTC dust involved in this study, shown in ( a )-( d ) respectively. The inset in ( d ) shows the chip edge on, which reveals the gray layer. The red/gray chips are mounted on an aluminum pedestal, using a carbon conductive tab, for viewing in the scanning electron microscope (SEM).

This shows a BSE image (a) and XEDS maps (b-f) of the red-layer cross section of a red/gray chip from dust sample 1. The elements displayed are: (b) Fe, (c) Al, (d) O, (e) Si, and (f) C.

DSC trace of sample 1 (blue line) compared with DSC of xerogel Fe2O3/UFG Al nanocomposite (from Tillotson et al. [28]). Both DSC traces show completion of reaction at temperatures below 560 °C.

Energy release for monomolecular explosives HMX, TNT and TATB, for energetic composite Al/Fe2O3, [21] and energy release by mass for four red/gray chips found in the WTC dust as measured in a Differential Scanning Calorimeter.

Ignited Red/Gray chips Each blue scale-marker represents 50 microns. Ignited nanothermites

FTIR analysis of red/gray chips

Questions?