Let's talk explosions / B.L.E.V.E.'s

Back story for you all. I work as a tank farm operator in the bay area of California. Today was the NUSTAR Energy fire. I thought it would be a fitting time for us to share explosion stories and also really fun to talk about B.L.E.V.E.'s. For anyone unfamiliar with the term bleve it is an boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion. Anyways heres an interesting video of the fire today that I happened upon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u4BeyqyP8o

I can't say for certain if this was a bleve because I am not a fire professional but to me it appears that it is. These were Ethanol tanks by the way.

 

This is similar to, but not technically, a BLEVE. BLEVE's by definition occur on pressurized containment vessels. Those the explosion in this video is violent and large, were that tank a pressurized vessel, the explosion would have been an order of magnitude more violent, with a larger "fireball".

From the distance of the video and without knowledge of the site and materials, it appears to be a floating roof fuel storage tank. The vapors of which may have filled the floating roof design, and once the air/fuel ratio and heat all came together, it popped.

To compare, here is one of the best BLEVE's I've ever seen. Bout ten seconds in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJpt628qmgM

 

https://youtu.be/K-tUQTw_Vtk

Caution: 30,000 gallons of propane.

 

They were cone roof vapor controlled tanks. I doubt they were over anything above a quarter of a water column inch in pressure but I am still waiting to hear the results of the Marshal's / A.T.F.'s investigation. I can't wait to hear what they come back with

 

Thanks for this thread, but I got say, please be careful what you post on line.

I work in the petrochemical field as well. My management has been very clear about posting pictures of the facility and does not allow it. They would be double upset if I posted pics of incedents.

Look up your policy to make sure you are safe to take pics.

Again, thanks for the thread. BLEVE is something that most people have no idea a about. its no joke.

 

Yeah I definitely wouldn't want to be caught posting pictures or secure information about my facility. Luckily we haven't had a severe fire in our history but I once had a contractors truck catch fire (only the battery though) in our parking lot.

 

@ the 1:10 mark in that video, there was the same thing laying on my buddy's land. His g'pa said it was a train car that exploded & landed there in the 1960's. The closest train tracks were over 2 miles away!