Who doesn't love a good explosion? As long as it is on video, and a long way away, that is.
BLEVE = Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. This is why I don't like propane. Even when it is not under high pressure, things can go wrong.
It isn't really funny, as 6 people were injured, one of them seriously. The manager of the gas station has been detained under a criminal investigation.
This is the StacheD video LPG Tanker Explosion: Routine Delivery to BLEVE! This took place at a gas station in Pyatigorsk, Russia, which is in southern Russia, roughly 110 miles east of the Black sea, and about 65 miles north of the border with Georgia.
When you're unloading a tanker, there's well established safety protocols for a reason. When those protocols get skipped or the equipment isn't up to standard, you don't get a second chance to fix it.
The video is about four and a half minutes. (I love StacheD videos; they are entertaining and I learn stuff.)
From about fifty yards away I watched a small boat explode. Nothing was left. It literally disappeared.
ReplyDeleteThe sole occupant was seen pouring gasoline into the carburator. Nothing left to recover.
A sailboat at the dock exploded because the owner had failed to maintain a regulator on a propane system. He survived and so did half his boat. Saltwater
Alcohol stoves are worse trouble.
My boat had a propane stove. I re-engineered the system so that the tank was hanging off the stern and I could drop in the water if need be. And it wouldn't leak into the bilge.
DeleteThere was a system to shut if off at the tank via solenoid, but I manually closed the valve on the tank every time I finished using it.
The US Coast Guard will not approach a boat on fire if it has propane on board, and I get it.
If I ever get another boat, I am going to switch out for a kerosene or diesel stove. (Yes, they exist, but they're expensive and you have to vent the exhaust.
ALL forms of stored energy are dangerous with catastrophic potential. Just a fact of modern technology.
ReplyDelete