Murdoch University has teamed up with explosives manufacturer Dyno Nobel to develop a safer bulk explosive.

Ammonium nitrate, which is mixed with 6 per cent fuel oil, goes under the trade name of ANFO and is the most widely used bulk explosive.

The research is aimed at tackling the problem of a toxic gas that can be formed and released by mine blasts set off under certain conditions.

The formation of nitrogen dioxide, known as a NOX gas, is the focus of the three year research program.

Professor Bogdan Dlugogorski, from the Murdoch School of Engineering, is heading up the project.

"NOX emissions in post-blast emissions-clouds can exceed recommended safe levels between 30 and 300 per cent," he said.

"We're trying to identify suitable technologies to minimise the development of those fumes in blasts in soft and wet ground."

Professor Dlugogorski and his team are trying to mix different compounds with the ANFO but he would not spell out exactly what they are, citing commercial confidentiality.

"And we're also trying to understand how the NOX is formed at a microscopic level," he said.

"Little is known about how ammonium nitrate prills burn and produce those gases at a microscopic level, and we're trying to understand the chemical and physical processes."

The project is an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project.

When the new explosive is test-ready it will be trialled at the Dyno Nobel research and development centre at Mt Thorley in New South Wales.