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Two explosions at flooded Texas chemical plant: Fifteen police officers hospitalized after blast...
UK Daily Mail ^ | 31 August 2017 | Associated Press and Ann Schmidt

Posted on 08/31/2017 5:35:36 AM PDT by Rockitz

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1 posted on 08/31/2017 5:35:36 AM PDT by Rockitz
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Full title > 100 characters...

Two explosions at flooded Texas chemical plant: Fifteen police officers hospitalized after blast at facility that will get MORE dangerous as the water rises


2 posted on 08/31/2017 5:36:34 AM PDT by Rockitz (This is NOT rocket science - Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: Rockitz

If only someone had told them that a hurricane was coming...


3 posted on 08/31/2017 6:07:07 AM PDT by Mr. K (***THERE IS NO CONSEQUENCE OF REPEALING OBAMACARE THAT IS WORSE THAN OBAMACARE ITSELF***)
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To: Rockitz

This will burn for awhile.

Hopefully, no KABOOM.


4 posted on 08/31/2017 6:17:10 AM PDT by redgolum
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To: Mr. K

Yeah!! Because they could’ve built up the necessary infrastructure in the four days notice we had!!!


5 posted on 08/31/2017 6:19:43 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: Mr. K

Actually, facilities like these are required to plan of a 100 year rain event.

This event is way beyond that. Holding the company responsible for meeting federal guidelines is one thing...holding them responsible to an act of god?

The appropriate course of action is exactly what they are doing.


6 posted on 08/31/2017 6:27:28 AM PDT by EBH ( May God Save the Republic)
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To: redgolum

Some metals (Titanium particularly) make great fuels in the presence of an aggressive oxidizer. Hopefully leak before burst for these bottles.


7 posted on 08/31/2017 6:38:10 AM PDT by Rockitz (This is NOT rocket science - Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: redgolum
Hopefully, no KABOOM.

A faint hope given it's organic peroxides.

8 posted on 08/31/2017 6:43:41 AM PDT by null and void (I don't expect to live in a safe world. I expect to live in a free country. Respect the Constitution)
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To: Rockitz

A burst is going to happen. No way to stop it now. The hope is to make it go like a roman candle as opposed to a M80.

Eventually, the tank will fail from the heat. Peroxides will burn under water (well, many of them will), so this is about protecting some of the area, no longer about asset preservation.


9 posted on 08/31/2017 6:44:33 AM PDT by redgolum
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To: Rockitz

I just watched a report on FNC and there was no mention of any injuries.


10 posted on 08/31/2017 6:52:04 AM PDT by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: laplata

I saw a report on ZH that said that 9 of the officers drove themselves to the hospital. Doesn’t sound too bad yet.


11 posted on 08/31/2017 7:16:02 AM PDT by Rockitz (This is NOT rocket science - Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: redgolum

From wiki:

Leak before burst describes a pressure vessel designed such that a crack in the vessel will grow through the wall, allowing the contained fluid to escape and reducing the pressure, prior to growing so large as to cause fracture at the operating pressure.

Many pressure vessel standards, including the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code[citation needed] and the AIAA metallic pressure vessel standard, either require pressure vessel designs to be leak before burst, or require pressure vessels to meet more stringent requirements for fatigue and fracture if they are not shown to be leak before burst.

I suspect these tanks are so small as to not be classified as pressure vessels and are more like simple containers. That would limit their size so hopefully any explosions will be small and distributed over a long duration of time.


12 posted on 08/31/2017 7:22:24 AM PDT by Rockitz (This is NOT rocket science - Follow the money and you'll find the truth.)
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To: null and void

I guess I meant KABOOM in a “technical” sense. Like Marvin the Martian saying “Where is the KABOOM? I wanted an earth shattering KABOOM!”

But, you are probably right. The fact they pulled out and are letting them burn means we have reached the point were you are trying to contain the event, rather than stop it.

Another reason I am a very paranoid man with my processes. I hate KABOOMs.


13 posted on 08/31/2017 8:36:57 AM PDT by redgolum
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To: Rockitz

Depending on where they are in the process, they may be pressure vessels.

Not quite sure. If they are just regular pressure vessels, that would be worse as they will pop, not split.


14 posted on 08/31/2017 8:40:40 AM PDT by redgolum
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To: Rockitz

Yes, it’s amazing that relatively so few have been injured or died.


15 posted on 08/31/2017 9:02:57 AM PDT by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Rockitz

Well, the plant did provide a warning a few days ago that the plant could explode.


16 posted on 08/31/2017 9:11:33 AM PDT by CodeToad (Victorious warriors WIN first, then go to war! Go TRUMP!!!)
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To: redgolum

Me too, I’m a process engineer...


17 posted on 08/31/2017 9:21:19 AM PDT by null and void (I don't expect to live in a safe world. I expect to live in a free country. Respect the Constitution)
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To: CodeToad

Yeah, but they also said nobody would be injured.


18 posted on 08/31/2017 10:13:01 AM PDT by ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas (Mozart tells you what it's like to be human. Bach tells you what it's like to be the universe)
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To: null and void

LOL. Chem E by training, Process by trade.

An old boss once said “Red. Do you sit up at night and think about what will kill your process?” “Yes sir, I do.”

Murphy and his gremlins are active little buggers. All we can do is kill the ones we can plan around.


19 posted on 08/31/2017 10:28:25 AM PDT by redgolum
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To: Rockitz

IIRC, existence of one or more pressure relief valves meets the spec. The valves allow a controlled release of stored material to stabilize containment pressure.

Once released, that material may ignite, but that is secondary to keeping the tank integrity.

The danger is when fire outside the containment vessel is up against the vessel wall. In such a case, the fire outside the tank will simultaneously heat both the tank wall and the material inside the tank. As long as the level inside the tank remains ABOVE the level of this heated zone the material itself will absorb the heat, and tend to keep the temperature of the vessel wall below a temperature at which it might fail. If the fire goes on long enough to boil off the contained material until the level gets down to where the heated zone is, the tank wall temperature will rise rapidly to a point where the strength of the steel falls below the set point of the pressure relief valve(s). Under those conditions the tank wall will burst, and the vaporized material inside the vessel will be forcibly expelled directly into the fire until internal tank pressure drops below external atmospheric pressure.

If that material is flammable, it will convert a burning fire into a massive blowtorch until the tank pressure falls below atmospheric. The rate of release will cause material to exit the ruptured tank so quickly that it will not just suddenly stop when internal pressure equals external pressure, but will overshoot, so there will be a moment of pressure reversal that will cause the tank to suck back and draw burning material back into the tank.

THAT is when the BIG KABOOOOM will happen.

What vaporized material remains inside the tank — IF its molecular structure includes oxygen enough to support self-combustion, as is the case with peroxides — will ignite instantly causing a pressure spike that will act upon the area of the existing tank rupture with such force as to completely tear the rest of the tank apart.

This is called a BLEVE (ble-vee) and is the most dangerous situation possible with flammable materials under compromised containment. Pieces of the shattered containment vessel can be hurled through the air to astounding distances.

This subject-specific video is instructive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM0jtD_OWLU


20 posted on 08/31/2017 11:01:30 AM PDT by HKMk23 (You ask how to fight an idea? Well, I'll tell you how: with another idea!)
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