WELL THIS IS A PICTURE THAT WAS CIRCULATING THRU MY SHOP IN COLTON, CA , BUT HAS ISNCE BEEN ON THE NET, JUST WONDERIN IF U HAD SEEN IT, THIS CAR WAS STEAMED IN THE CLEANING PROCESS , AND LEFT OVER THE WEEKEND TO COOL FOR MONDAYS WORK, IT SEEMS THOUGH OLE JOE BOB CLOSED THA LID WITHOUT NOTICING THE CAR WASN'T EQUIPPED WITH A VACCUUM RELIEF VALVE, UH OH, U GOT IT, IMPLOSION OCCURRED AFTER STEAM CONDENSED IT LEFT ROOM TO FILL DUE TO VOLUME CHANGE IN THE AIR TIGHT ATMOSPPHERE, OR SO I THINK..LOL, ANY QUESTIONS PERTAINING RAILCAR TANKS IN ALL ASPECTS I SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER, I HAVE EXPERIENCE IN ALL PROCESSES AND AM HAPPY TO HELP!!!
I once saw a milk tanker truck implode when they pumped the milk to the dairy and forgot to open the valve on top. This happened in Lynden Washington back around 1952. The son in law of the owner was the driver. He hooked up the pipes between the tanker and the dairy and walked away. Everybody within a couple of blocks heard it.
This sure gives us a dramatic reminder of the forces of nature, and what can happen if we don't respect them.
yup, and just think these are the consequences of natural doings, add all the other volitile hazards and these railways are really dangerous....and after seeing some of the work done on these cars, i would be a lil bit careful about being in the presence of them..lol u all have a good one!!!
lol, dunno, i haven't seen a squish take out a whole town, bleve's aren't for the weak...lol, u know where i might find a bleve video clip like the ones hazmat has? i enjoy an occasional bleve theatre........thanx
I just ran a search for 'BLEVE' and a whole bunch of sites came up but I didn't cruise through any of them. I suspect there's plenty of pics and video out there. I prefer not to think too often about one happening behind my seat.
I have not seen tank cars imploded by vacuum, but I have seen this same thing happen to storage tanks. External pressure is more difficult to design for than internal pressure, which is why many pressure vessels do have vacuum relief. As the notes indicate, most often this happens when the vent valve is closed or plugged during pump-out or when steam is used to clean a vessel and it cools over time without an open vent. Steam occupies a lot more volume (generates more internal pressure) than the resulting condensate. I have seen BLEVE films in the past. BLEVEs are truly awesome to see. They require something like LNG or Propane which will evaporate and rapidly expand. I hope Rule never has the opportunity to see one.
Trust me, I may be old but I'll bet my feet would go like a gold medal sprinter if I thought I was going to see one of those monsters...upwind and out of state!
