Posted on 10/10/2013 5:41:53 AM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
Why? Ammunition doesn't explode when subjected to fire. Individual cartridges will "cook-off" but do not affect adjacent cartridges. In a huge fire, each of the cartridges will individually detonate, much akin to popping pop corn. There is no mass detonation when ammunition is burned.
All munitions are tested in fire by the Department of Transportation and assigned a "Hazard Classification" to assure bad things do not happen during transportation over public roads.
There is a difference between a safe and a secure, cool and dry place. Obviously only a moron would leave them where another moron could toss a ciggy butt.
Because of the filler neck, it cannot get enough oxygen to support combustion. Only the vapors coming out of the tank will burn when they hit enough air to actually burn. The environment in the tank is too “rich”, like when a car engine is “flooded”.
Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes.
“...consumer fireworks using an oxy-acetylene cutting torch when the blast occurred.”
Ban fireworks!!
That`s why they are called “safe[fire]crackers”
***You’ll get a small flame at the opening, that’s all. ***
If the tank is full it might, but what if the tank is low and there is air in the tank.
A man was killed near here several years ago when he tried to braze a leak on a fuel tank. Kaboom.
Two of our workers once wanted to braze a leak on a tank. They said they would start the engine, use a hose to fill the tank with exhaust before welding it. The Supervisor on duty forbade them to do it.
Many companies forbid the cutting of steel barrels unless the barrel has been steam cleaned first. Too much chance of explosion.
Brazing a tank without fully purging it will definitely do that. But then again, you are putting heat directly to the tank and the drained tank is a pure vapor situation which is likely (or at least possibly) between the UEL and LEL (upper and lower explosive limits). A flame past a fill nozzle on a car is extremely unlikely to be between UEL and LEL.
The CO idea was not a bad one. They do that on tanker ships.
I’ll take your word on that, T.O.!
Ya....or Wile E. Cayote. meep meep
I worked for a company in my younger days that rebuilt gas stations. More than once, we had dry ice-purged tanks pop the ends off when someone hit it with a torch. Scary stuff!
BAN OXY-ACETYLENE TORCHES! For the fireworks!
The fireworks were likely in the safe for safety reasons, on the belief that the safe could contain the explosion. However, these two individuals had likely cut through part of the safe door, weakening it enough so that the explosion blew it apart.
Truthfully, the best way to store explosives is in a strong “metal wicker” basket, of the type used by police EOD, because it allows the high pressure of the blast out, but contains fragmentation.
By accident, in Iraq, somebody discovered that if you painted concrete with truck bed liner paint, while a bomb might fragment the concrete, the paint would still hold it together so it didn’t turn into projectiles.
Wow. Talk about a Rhino Liner.
I beg to differ. I once was going to try and repair a gasoline tank. I emptied all the gas. I flushed it with water, filling and emptying several times. I filled it with water and let running water flow out the top for hours. Still being wary, I took the tank outside and tentatively put a flame by the filler opening. BOOM!!!! The tank exploded up into the air. After what seemed like an eternity, the filler neck clanked to the driveway, a couple seconds later, the exploded yank landed. The tank was bust wide open with a jagged knife edge along its entire length. Had the direction of the tank not been straight up, but toward me, I could have been decapitated.
This is not some story I heard on the Internet. This is a true story that happened to me personally.
(One of several times in my life, for no apparent reason, God has saved my life or protected me from serious injury.)
DO NOT PUT A FLAME NEAR AN OPENING OF A GAS TANK!!!!!!!
Do not take ANY chances when it comes to gasoline. Gas fumes can travel large distances over the ground. You might THINK you are far enough away, think again!
YOU CAN'T SEE FUMES!
(actually under certain conditions you can).
Did you buy a new gas water heater in the last few years? The prices have gone up over $100.00 because of modifications to guard against fumes traveling across the floor and being ignited by the water heater.
Very different scenario than what I mentioned.
Yes, I know an empty gasoline tanker truck is more dangerous than a full one in many scenario. I also know a gallon of gasoline has the rough equivalent of 14 stick of dynamitre in some situations. I understand chemistry. I’m an engineer. I also love to eff around with junk cars and stuff.
I will NEVER try to repair a used gas tank with a torch. It’s deadly, and there’s really no need with the availability of epoxies that will do just fine. I WILL however, make people freak out by putting a flame to a cars gas filler hole and watch the pretty flame burn for hours. And no, you don’t want to do this with a car with an empty tank.
You can’t fix stupid. Stupid is as stupid does.
Dynamite is very safe. Unless you use a "blasting cap" or something like "det-cord" dynamite is inert. As a mater of fact you can toss it into a wood stove and it will burn with some vigor, but it will not detonate. There are several types of dynamite, all are based on nitroglycerin which is mixed with a filler substance.
The fillers used range from fullers earth, a type of clay, to mixtures of sawdust and sodium nitrate, to gun-cotton (nitrocellulose aka smokeless powder) with some sodium nitrate. The first two listed can be made in strength ranging from 40% to 60% nitro, the last listed is 100% and is sold as gelignite.
All forms of dynamite are safer than using nitroglycerin alone as a blasting agent, which had superseded black powder.
Regards,
GtG
Two words: black powder.
The simplest explanation for any event is usually the correct explanation. When you hear the thunder of hoof beats, look for horses, not zebras.
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