Can we talk about that 9/11 steel report from 2004 I finally read last night?

I was always in the 'it was just jet fuel' camp until I saw the NIST data on sulfur content in the steel samples from Ground Zero. Has anyone else dug into those lab findings and come away with doubts?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliot_miller221mo ago

People get real hung up on those sulfur readings but forget that thermite requires a specific aluminum-to-iron oxide ratio that wasn't found in any of the samples. The NIST study showed elevated sulfur from the gypsum wallboard and diesel generators burning, not from some controlled demolition. If you actually look at the full lab results, the sulfur levels varied wildly across different beams which is exactly what you'd expect from random debris contamination.

felix1551mo ago

Honestly I remember reading that report back when it first came out and it got me thinking about that time I visited a steel mill in Pittsburgh back in 2009. The tour guide was this old guy who kept talking about how sulfur makes steel brittle if it gets too hot. He said they had to be real careful with the temperature controls or else the whole batch would come out weak. I was just nodding along but later I looked up what he meant and found out sulfur can actually melt steel at lower temps if its concentrated enough. So when I see people arguing about those NIST samples I just think about that old guy and wonder if he knew something the rest of us didnt.