Posted on 06/23/2021 9:03:23 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A water tank exploded in a Central Valley community, lifting 70 feet into the air, killing a man and prompting a state of emergency in the city of Lemoore this week.
The incident was captured on astonishing surveillance video.
When the 1.5 million-gallon city water tank ruptured Monday afternoon, the massive container flew into the air, then crumpled on impact, authorities said.
City officials released new footage Tuesday night that captured the moment the tank exploded, hurting a city employee and killing a contractor.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
See #39 and #42.
Here is what I assume happened. The arc welding separated the chlorinated water into three gases when boiling it. Hydrogen, Chlorine gases, and an oxidizer, Oxygen. It built up in the top. Then the intense light from the arc ignited it.
Cute theory. I assume that you are joking because that is not actually possible. UV light from arc welding cannot travel through water to ignite flammable gasses. And even if it were possible to boil a tiny amount of water at the bottom of a 1.5 million gallon tank. The tiny amount of chlorine vapors released would be dissolved before they go to the surface. And if this were a properly vented tank no gasses would have accumulated at the top in the first place.
Somehow this tank became over pressurized. I do not know how, but an explosion seems unlikely unless the "tie-in" was taking place at the top of the tank. The tank broke at the bottom and went flying through the air. There was no explosion as we would normally define one.
You have watched too many episodes of MacGyver.
Oh, and I have been welding for 40 years. I have torches, arc welders, MIG Welders, and cylinders full of gasses. UV light from an arc welder has never ignited anything nearby or even warmed anything up in all that time. Sparks, molten metal and hot metal are another story.
And in what world does boiling water turn it into oxygen and hydrogen? It turns into steam. Do you have a teapot?
Just goes to show how important the infrastructure bill is to the nation. Building falling down, pedestrian bridge collapsing and now a watertank blowing up. See!? Who could possibly argue against the bill now?
No the intense heat right at the welding site actually separates the two gasses on a molecular level into Hydrogen and Oxygen creating “Hydroxy” gas, or “Brown’s gas”. It is flamable on it’s own, but in this case it also created Chlorine gasses and added them to the mix. So it created a gas bomb with fuel and an Oxidizer.
Arc welding emits intense UV light. UV light causes Hydrogen and Chlorine combined to have an extremely intense explosive reaction. The Oxygen just added more intensity as an Oxidizer.
I think if they had fan forced fresh air in the top and displaced those gases from the tank it would not have happened.
Hydroxy, or what is also called Brown’s gas is what they create with electric Hydrogen fuel cells. Like those that they add to cars... they boil the water into the two gases Hydrogen and Oxygen which is flammable in a gaseous state.
I have been welding all my life too. And The perfect conditions for what I state is probably very very rare. But... Here you go...
hydrogen?
Yes, I do not get it.
There is better information at:
https://abc30.com/lemoore-explosion-school-evacuate-west-hills-college-timely/10817764/
They are calling it a “mechanical failure” The guy who was killed was working from a boom truck off the ground. The boom truck and the guy were knocked over and his employee did CPR on him until paramedics showed up...
We have all been making assumptions based on incomplete and inaccurate info. The tank was already cut open and they were attempting to weld a bung in to tie it to the other tanks. So somehow it does sound like there were flammable gasses involved. And not over-pressurization as I had previously speculated this morning.
If the flammable gas was lighter than air how did it form a mixture that could be ignited? have been standing by at the edge of a trench while workers repaired the leak in a natural gas main that sounded like a jet engine. The workers were not very concerned about ignition because the mixture in the hole was out of the flammable range. This was more of a freak occurrence than most people here seem to believe.
“A chlorine bomb is a small explosive device which uses the pressure of chemically produced chlorine gas or other chlorine-containing gases such as hydrogen chloride to produce an explosion. The reaction produces an expansive increase in pressure, eventually rupturing the container.”
That is absolutely ridiculous! Water molecules are not broken into hydrogen and oxygen using “intense heat”. They can be broken down through electrolysis. Intense heat turns water into steam it does not break water molecules down. Do a little research on the term electrochemistry and electrolysis.
I have... I was one of the few who stayed awake during chemistry class. And I have done years of experimentation with Hydroxy on vehicles. Boiling water does indeed produce byproduct gases of Hydrogen and oxygen. Especially at instant extreme temperatures.
But let me ask you this... How does an ELECTRIC arc welder work? Are positive and negative electrodes and a current involved? Could it also create electrolysis aside from the heat boiling it? Of course... Just as you yourself say here.
But since you pointed out it was not submerged welding. If they were not welding on that bottom seam and submerged on the inside of the tank my assumption does not apply. even though totally possible with real science to back it up. If they were not welding on that bottom seam and submerged on the inside of the tank my assumption does not apply.
Hydrogen + Chlorine gas + Oxygen + UV light = A big bang... I just gave you the video... Watch it...
You could arc weld all day in salt water in an enclosed tank and not make enough oxygen and hydrogen to fill a balloon let alone blow a 1.5 million gallon water storage tank 70 feet into the air.
If you do not believe me put some salt water with a couple electrodes with something to hold them apart into a flask. Use a stopper to with a glass tube going to another stopper you can put a balloon on. Seal the wires in the stopper going to your electrodes. Plug your electrodes into an outlet which is 4 times the voltage used when welding and see how long it takes to fill the balloon. I will give you a clue it is going to take a while and your solution will heat up depending on how much solution you are using and how much distance is between your electrodes.
And yes I have done this... you should try it.
But you omitted the full combination of gasses that might have been created. Also Chlorine gas and possibly even Fluoride gas if the water had fluoride in it. Fluoride also reacts violently with Hydrogen.
I truly think it is possible to create the conditions for an explosion in a container such as this considering the combination. Doesn’t take much Hydrogen and Chlorine for the UV to set it off. You saw it pop with a very small amount in that video.
But while possible, I also think it would be very very rare indeed that these perfect conditions could come about. I learned never to say never years ago when I have seen even stranger (physically impossible) things actually happen beyond all reason and logic.
Wow!
Must have had a gas leak somewhere but you would think they could smell the gas.
If this was problem related to flammable gasses igniting... it was because the welding going on was in an area that was just above the water level and some heavier than air gas like propane was mixed with the right amount of air to combust when a spark or arc above the ignition temperature of the gas ignite the mixture I was the head of a Hazmat Team for many years. We have not been given enough info to know exactly why this happened but your
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