Posted on 08/10/2020 11:09:49 AM PDT by cdnerds
Huh?
According to Google maps, the blast appears to be at units 4230, 4232, 4234 & 4236 on Labyrinth Rd. in Baltimore.
Found the paranoid conspiracy nut
Not to mention the one in San Bruno a few years ago.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bruno_pipeline_explosion
Nope. PROPANE sinks. NG rises.
They seem to forget that solves work in packs.
Isn’t the molecular weight of natural gas 16 while that of air is something like 29. Therefore, natural is lighter than air.
| Gas | Specific Gravity - SG - |
|---|---|
| Air | 1.000 |
| Alcohol vapor | 1.601 |
| Ammonia - NH 3 | 0.59 |
| Carbon monoxide | 0.9667 |
| Chlorine | 2.486 |
| Methane - CH 4 | 0.5537 |
| Natural Gas | 0.60 - 0.70 |
| Propane - C 3 H 8 | 1.5219 |
“NG is heavier than air and settles at the lowest point, being the basement”
Nothing personal, but that statement is incorrect. Natural gas is lighter than air and rises. I investigated gas leaks/ explosions for a living early in my career. Not being on site and only seeing helicopter video, my guess would be a ng leak either on the gas main on service line and it traveled the path of leat resistance into the residence. The way a gas explosion works follows......from ignition point , the flame wave travels upward and lifts the roof off the structire. Being overpressured, the walls blow outward, and the largely intact roof sits right back down on the mess. Looks to me like a classic gas leak explosion. All of the debris in the front and back yards (sides of explosion contained by neoghboring structures) and the roof sitting on top of it all.
Lots of old cast iron gas mains in that part of the country. I have even seen old wooden gas lines. Corroded cast iron or wood gas lines, leave not much more than a whole in the dirt for the gas to flow thru.
Red
Correct. When I was in college (Boston) we'd fill small weather balloons with a mixture of air and natural gas. We'd take a balloon to the roof of the apartment building (at night of course), tie a fuse on it, and let it go. Had one explode enroute to the Prudential Building. Another one blew up about 300 ft over a neighborhood in Roxbury.
Guess we could get into big trouble if we did that today.
R.O.P. residents?
Always been taught that NG can settle and that propane and butane flow at ground level.
What part of that did you not understand?
The problem with your theory is that NG is mostly methane, Molecular weight 16. Air is 80% Nirtogen MW 28, and 20% Oxygen, MW 32.
NG is lighter than air and rises.
Thanks for all the replies.
That must have bee fun sending those balloons up and watching them go “poof” like mini Hindenburgs.
When I was a kid, I saw plans for making illuminated hot air balloons from laundry bags with small birthday candles held by plastic straws. I was always afraid to try it because I figured I would start a forest fire.
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